Kat and Alfie: Oneshots
by KatandAlfieFan
Summary: Series of one-shots fitting into the Kat and Alfie story from November 2013 to present. Some entries don't fit directly into on-screen events, but this will be explained in the relevant chapters.
1. November 2013

_"Do you mean it? Do you really mean it? You want me?"_

 _"You forgive me?"_

 _"Totally."_

 _"You know, I… I have tried… so hard Kat; to be without you, you know and… I can't… I can't do it. 'Cause all I want… is you, and you know… nothing makes sense to me unless… unless there's a Kat and Alfie."_

 _"You are… you are the love of my life Kat… and you always will be."_

 _"And you're my Man in the Moon."_

* * *

Roxy. The patience of an airhostess. Airport security. Nothing mattered, and nothing would matter except Kat, Alfie and their family. The newly reunited couple reluctantly broke apart after some time, and the scene drew a very neat line under a love triangle of sorts. Roxy could never compete. How could she, when despite delaying further a flight that he had been ejected from for causing a disturbance; Alfie had just shared a longer, more passionate and more loving kiss with Kat than he had done with his bride at the altar? Their parting had nothing at all to do with the ostentatious cough that had come from the same airhostess that earlier genuinely seemed to believe that Alfie had trouble locating the seat two rows down on the left. Was it not obvious that he had come aboard with some purpose other than jetting off on his happy holidays? Donning a wedding suit with no bride in sight, exactly how slow was she? Instead they had parted because they now needed to complete their reunion, and be joined by their Tommy.

"We don't operate a childminding service!" The airhostess called, seemingly heading for a state of hysteria.

Alfie again looked Kat in the eyes, the pair communicating in a way that neither had been able to with any other partner. Kat nodded, knowing exactly what Alfie was asking, and he gave her a lips a quick peck before making off for the aircraft steps. His approach was eyed with suspicion and Alfie genuinely expected the airhostess, whose name tag he wasn't even bothering to glance at; to tell him that he had been removed from the flight and would not be permitted to board again, whether or not he had calmed down and ticket or not.

"What? Do you need my wife… ex wife… to come back up here or something?" Alfie corrected regrettably, the airhostess not faltering from what he presumed was her best unimpressed face. "He's my son," Alfie added, gesturing to Tommy who had now grabbed his soft toy from the lady and was offering it to him.

Accepting the furry creation from the two-year-old, Alfie bent down to pick up his son, sensing that the airhostess was now admitting defeat. Tommy immediately threw his arms around his father's shoulders, continuing to cling to him as he was carried off of the large structure. He'd thought they were going up.

As Alfie and Tommy reached the ground, Kat's smile grew and more happy tears escaped from her eyes. She had been so stupid; they were everything she ever wanted.

"Mummy!" Tommy called, starting a dash toward her as soon as Alfie had set him down on the ground.

Opening her arms to her son, Kat sank down to his level and waited for him to reach her, Alfie following in his wake. "Hey little man," she spoke lovingly, picking him up and advancing a few paces to meet Alfie in the middle of the runway.

"We go up?" Tommy asked, staring up at the aircraft confusedly.

"We're staying here with Daddy now," Kat told him, hoping that he wouldn't ask her anything else, such as how this had come to be. She could scarcely believe it herself. The day had started off as one of the worst in a long while, and now it was one of the best ever.

As he took on board the information that his mother had divulged, Tommy looked to Alfie, as if seeking further clarification.

"Daddy isn't with Roxy any more. Daddy is with Mummy now and everything will be how it used to be," Alfie told his son, meaning the statement with one major caveat, too complex for Tommy to understand. That and Alfie sincerely hoped that no one would be holding Kat's past mistakes against her by the time he was old enough to do so. If he could forgive her, what gave anyone else the right to cast aspersions?

With Tommy now nodding to convey that he had understood this explanation, Alfie brought both Kat and Tommy into his arms, leaving the airhostess to watch on, far from amused at the events that were unfolding. The airline made do with the availability of _Love Actually_ over the in-flight entertainment; they didn't need front row seats to a pathetic attempt at a sequel. "You're disturbing the flight, we can't take off until you're clear of the flight path."

Kat and Alfie seemed not to have heard this and kissed again, Tommy now clinging to Alfie's free hand, as if fearing that if he dared to let go, his daddy would be gone and it would be as if this had never happened.

"I said you're disturbing the flight. You've already delayed this flight by at least twenty minutes, please go back inside the airport to continue the love fest," the airhostess hollered across at the couple, rolling her eyes. Airport security had evidently heard this also, for they were now making their way back over from the doors to remove the small family.

"All right love, keep your hair on; we're going," Kat chortled, calling back across the open space, having withdrawn from the kiss. She proceeded to take Alfie's hand in hers, whose other hand was clutching Tommy's small palm; as the small family wandered towards the door in the darkness.

* * *

"Kat?" Alfie spoke up uncertainly as they reached the door and started to make their way back through the maze that was the airport.

The target of Alfie's utterance wasn't sure what to make of the sudden shaky voice, but what she was fairly certain of was that it couldn't be good. Would he regret it already? Did he really forgive her? The alternatives continued to come, none particularly more appealing than the one that had come before it. "Yeah?" she answered nervously, with some hesitation.

"Let's go to the seafront," he smiled up at her.

"Now?" Kat managed, overcome with her sense of relief.

"Rude not to. It's fate, don't you think?"

"What is?"

At this, Alfie stepped forward and stopped ahead of the love of his life, halting her in her tracks as he turned to face her. "Us, getting back together at this airport?"

"Not really, we'd have got back together at Stanstead or Heathrow if either of those had the first flight to Ibiza," Kat remarked light-heartedly, although not at all jokingly. Any time, any place; her answer always would have been the same. She'd not jumped at the chance of a reunion at first, but only because she needed to be sure. Who could blame her, after all the times that she had longed to have him back; times that he hadn't been remotely interested? She couldn't settle for the crumbs as Bianca had termed it, and that had been why she'd felt that she had no alternative but to leave. How could she have been sure at first sight that his sudden appearance hadn't been designed to keep Tommy in the country and nothing else, after everything that she had done?

"You know what I mean," countered Alfie. "Southend, it's our place. Are you saying you didn't have any tears on the way to the airport? All those memories?"

"I thought that was the Vic, and yeah, but that was more to do with just having seen you say 'I do' rather than anything else."

"Kat," interjected Alfie, saying nothing further. Some might have said that it had been warningly, but Alfie didn't have it in him to speak as such.

"I would Alfie," Kat reassured her ex-but-not-quite-so-ex-any-more. It felt wrong to refer to him in this manner, but what else could she do? Technically, having signed the register, he was now married to someone else. Had it just been for the divorce, she'd have in some small way forever felt that he was her husband. She couldn't exactly call him her ex; unfortunately, she was Kat Slater again and by virtue of the word, that meant that she couldn't stand them. Some women kept their exes as friends obviously, but not her. Since the day over ten years ago that they had first got it together, it had been all or nothing for Kat and Alfie and nothing in between would last. "It's not just us any more, what about Tommy?" she questioned.

"Bianca will take him, I'm sure," Alfie responded, looking up at Kat hopefully.

"She's still here?"

"Of course she is. How do you think I got the money for a ticket to Ibiza?" he asked, gesturing to his suit. Roxy had annoyed him when she'd badgered him to bring his passport, so much so that he had tucked it into the only pocket of his suit, intending to bring it out for a pathetic joke during the reception; while being forced to listen to Phil's speech, no doubt droning on about how good it was that Alfie was now a Mitchell. But right now he could have kissed her for it… almost.

"You bought a ticket?" asked Kat in disbelief. It hadn't gone unnoticed by her that Alfie's thoughts seemed to have trailed off to someplace else.

"Of course I did. Not even I could convince gateline staff to let me past without a ticket."

"You could convince me to do anything, you always could. And that's why I think… we should go."

Alfie winked appreciatively, as Kat spoke up again and he resumed his position by her side. "You don't think she's gone back to hang out the banners, do you?"

"She better not have. I had to talk some pizza delivery guy into handing over his scooter to get here. Don't fancy that again," he told her.

Kat chuckled. "I'm not sure which story I believe least. That, or the time you told me that you got run over when you were looking for a condom."

"I did! Ask Ian, he's hundred quid and a watch lighter."

"Now I know you're having me on, Ian Beale wouldn't hand over a chip, never mind a hundred quid."

* * *

Kat, Alfie and Tommy were drawing closer to the main doors when Kat looked up mischievously. "How do you fancy a bit of a production?" she asked, whispering her plan into Alfie's ear.

"You are a cruel woman Kathleen Moon," he told her, more than happy to play along. Neither of them had had enough fun recently. Alfie bent down to his son's level briefly, wanting to reassure the two- year-old. He'd been confronted with a lot of upheaval in the last twenty-four hours, too much for any child of his age, never mind one who had endured such a troubled start in life.

"Tommy, Daddy will be back in a minute, okay?" The boy nodded, as Alfie kissed both him and Kat on the head before he made his way out to the main door.

* * *

"Alfie!" Bianca called across the airport foyer, taking a moment to register that he was wearing a forlorn expression. "Oh no," she muttered.

"I was too late," he told her, sinking down against the wall.

The scene was convincing; Alfie presumed that this was attributable to the fact that the tears were still coming following the emotional reunion with the love of his life. He was also lacking any means with which to wipe away the evidence. Foolish to have ever believed that Roxy could possibly replace Kat though he may have been, even Alfie drew the line at using a wedding suit as a handkerchief. Bianca made her way over to the visibly distressed groom, before attempting to comfort him.

"I'm sorry Alfie," she said sincerely. "Look, come back with me and we can call Kat as soon as she touches down." Bianca continued, as Alfie sniffed, pushing ahead with his best devastated impression. "She'll come back, I know she will. She'll take you back," she enthused, so preoccupied with the fact that she had been right all along that she failed to perceive the change in the local landlord.

"I know she will; she already has," Alfie grinned, as Kat appeared at his side with Tommy, her face the picture of elation.

"Kat!" Bianca chimed, dashing forward and sharing in the happiness. Expectant travellers were beginning to stop and stare, but neither Kat, Alfie nor Bianca could care. Tommy on the other hand seemed to have tired of hanging around this place of public convergence and had taken to attempting to relieve his toy of one of its ears, failing to notice the audience that his parents were now attracting. The staring masses would probably still get to their destinations on time, assuming that they weren't bound for Ibiza of course.

"Alright B," she called coolly, pulling one of her closest confidantes into a hug. Half an hour ago, less, she would have referred to her as her only such outlet for matters of the heart and had told her as much just prior to leaving for her flight. But now Alfie had reclaimed his place as Kat's go to person.

Bianca threw her arms around her friend, her words slightly muffled as she managed, "I thought you'd gone."

Drawing back from the warm embrace, Kat looked up to Alfie and the pair smiled fondly to each other, causing Bianca to take a few steps backwards, sensing that she was impinging upon their time. She had been rooting for them all year and the least she could do was to afford them their moment.

"Not me; sorry, couldn't resist messing with ya."

"I'm so happy to see you two back together," beamed Bianca.

Exchanging glances once again, Kat and Alfie paused before Alfie answered on behalf of both of them. "Cheers; so are we," he assured Kat's best friend, while playing with a lock of Kat's hair. He hoped that he could earn back that title also, having said all those cruel things to her in the months following their split.

"Anyway," interjected Kat, interrupting Bianca's focus as she unbeknown to her friend and colleague, warned Alfie without words. He knew that they would have to face head on any issues that they had from here on in, and though it might not be easy for him to trust Kat implicitly again, he had to believe in the fact that she had well and truly learned her lesson. Many of the Square's residents found Kat intimidating, but Bianca was a force to be reckoned with too. It was why they got along so well. "Alfie's twisted my arm into going on a bit of a jolly; Southend was always our place, you know?" explained Kat gently, assuming that Ricky and Bianca had had their equivalent, and that in time, Bianca and Terry would also. "You couldn't take Tommy for the night, could ya?" she finished, smiling sweetly.

Bianca nodded, understanding instantly her friend's need for some time out. They needed time to reacquaint themselves with being back together, before facing the onslaught that they would surely be on the receiving end of when they got home. The 'poor Roxy' routine was as predictable as it was grating on one's sense of patience. She wasn't entirely sure that she was convinced by the our place story; Kat had never liked to discuss her relationship with Alfie in any great detail, it hurt her too much. She could gauge from Kat's reluctance when faced with the subject how deep the feelings ran, and seeing the two together was something else. "Of course I will. He can share Morgan's room. Cars," announced Bianca, as if she could not comprehend the appeal. "Congratulations again, yeah," she offered, as Kat and Alfie began to explain to Tommy what would now be happening, following the latest change of plan.

* * *

"What's the plan then?" Kat asked of Alfie as they strolled down the street hand in hand. They hadn't done anything this impulsive for at least five years now, and though she loved the fact that they seemed to be rediscovering this side to their relationship, she couldn't help but think that it would have been a better idea when it wasn't gone six in the evening. "I don't think we're going to have much luck on the toffee apple front tonight."

"How does Mrs Moon fancy fish and chips on the pier?"

Suddenly Kat wasn't looking quite as optimistic as she had done, and seemed to be slightly uncomfortable with being called Mrs Moon. "What's up?" Alfie enquired concernedly, stopping and turning to her and almost causing Kat to walk straight into him by so doing. Did she not want to be Mrs Moon any more?

"I'm hardly Mrs Moon any more, am I?" Kat commented regrettably.

"Did you deed poll back to Slater when I wasn't looking?" joked Alfie, knowing full well that she hadn't.

Kat shook her head at this, while Alfie took her in his arms once again. "Then you're still Mrs Moon. We might not be married any more but as far as I'm concerned you'll always be my wife."

"Chips all round then?" Kat asked, taking them temporarily away from the strained reality of the situation.

* * *

Kat and Alfie were tucking into their chips on the pier a short time later, only Kat's attention didn't seem to be all there. Playfully, Alfie threw a chip in her direction, causing her to stare over at him, drawing her attention away from the picturesque waters that spread out beyond.

"Oi!" she called loudly, as if it had been a reflex, dealing out the same. It triggered memories of that playfight with the cakes all those years ago; in fact there were many memories that this circumstance brought to the forefront, the time that they had sloped off to this very place to celebrate their one month anniversary among them. The pair had on this occasion left Spencer in charge of the bar, who had been less than amused by the spontaneity of their excursion. It was taken to such an extent that Spencer had only learned of the outing when he had woken to a note that Alfie had left to let him know, and, further riled by the challenging customers that he had encountered during the day; denounced the visit as an excuse to skive off upon the couple's return. The end of November, the end of January; the hours spent here had seen some of their best moments.

"You seemed miles away."

"I was just thinking," explained Kat, a little apologetic. Her actions of the previous year had likely left her husband with the impression that he bored her; a nagging feeling that wouldn't be easily eradicated; the last thing she wished was for him to have those kinds of thoughts plaguing his mind again. He wasn't her husband any longer either, but in her heart, he always would be. She remembered the time over Christmas before last where she had thought that he wouldn't marry her again. Would he want to now?

"Oh yeah, what about?" Alfie probed, cuddling the love of his life closer to him as he did so.

"How stupid I was, how close I came to not having all this again," Kat trailed off, as Alfie kissed her head gently and reassuringly. "You know I even asked B to get Terry to set me up with some of his single mates yesterday," she confessed, the tears starting to fall once again. It was clear from her shaking voice that she had been papering over the cracks, pretending that she was fine about his upcoming nuptials. He'd guessed as much when she'd banished him from her house the previous evening.

"Kat," Alfie started, unsure as to how exactly to put this. He knew what he wanted to say but he didn't want her to feel in any way patronised by it. "I meant what I said back there, it's gone," he began, referring to the mistakes that she had made, not wanting to name them for fear that it would convince her otherwise. "Let's draw a line; today is the first day of the rest of our lives."

As Kat heard this, she was taken back to a previous use of this combination of words, an occasion where they had been just that: words. This time, Kat hoped beyond hope that he meant it. "Okay," she nodded, smiling.

"I can't believe Bianca gave you the money for a ticket," added Kat, after a few moments of silence. "She's not made of money."

"I think she's our new; what was it you called Jean when you had that fight with Roxy?"

"Chief cheerleader," recalled Kat.

"That's it, we'll always have one. Nana, Jean and now Bianca."

* * *

After spending another hour on the beach relishing each other's company, the newly reunited couple had accepted that the time had come for a dose of reality. They weren't yet headed for Walford to face the music as it were, but the fact that they didn't have so much as a car to sleep in rendered it a necessity for them to acknowledge the existence of another person. With their hands clasped tightly together, they set off on their quest to locate accommodation for the evening.

"Urgh, I'm starting to think that 'Sorry, no vacancies' is code for 'It's dark out, we can't be bothered' around here," Kat opined, as the two encountered the fourth such sign.

The somewhat outlandish comment had Alfie come to a halt in the middle of the pavement, parting the two for a moment as Kat continued on for a few feet. The Alfie shaped obstruction was not to the amusement of several passers by, who it seemed hadn't grasped the sense of completeness that one could derive from otherwise unremarkable time spent with that one person. "I've missed that," Alfie told Kat, catching her up.

"What, me making silly comments?"

"You saying it like it is, and you full stop," he gazed adoringly at her. "You will keep doing it, won't you? I mean… tell me if I'm being annoying, not giving you enough attention, or if I'm being an inconsiderate prat," he urged, desperate to avoid a repeat of what they had overcome. As much as he couldn't bear to be without her, he couldn't take it again.

"I will," Kat agreed, standing up on her tip toes and giving him a short peck on the lips. "Like I said to Ronnie after she came out, it was as if we couldn't find the way to start talking to each other again before. We can now."

* * *

The hotel situation was no closer to being resolved by nine o' clock, and Kat and Alfie were running short of roads to walk down and establishments to try.

"I can't believe the stupid old bag at that last place!" Kat continued to vent; Alfie had heard nothing else since they had left the premises. "'You should be ashamed of yourself, leaving your bride'; it was like we were dealing with Dot Branning!" she decided. "Tell them we've been to a funeral at the next place."

Alfie chuckled again; he hadn't laughed so much all year as he had tonight. It was partly due to her words, but in part also because of the B&B that they had now stopped outside. "I've a feeling we might still be banned from this particular place, funeral or no funeral," he announced, looking to Kat knowingly.

"You loved it when I threw that ice bucket over the manager. I know it massaged your ego."

"Excuse me for not being too impressed by his attempts to look down my wife's top." Alfie replied, before the pair embraced. Anything material could be taken away from them, but they would still have each other.

"You know I think we might be sleeping on the beach tonight Mrs Moon."

Kat nodded, although was rather less optimistic about this eventuality than Alfie as she sighed, frustrated.

"Come on, we had worse than this in America. It's all the hundred year olds filling up the hotels, isn't it? We'll get our time," Alfie attempted to assure the love of his life, before turning back in the direction of the beach and holding out his hand to her.

Although she'd taken his hand in an instant and always would, Kat still had her reservations. She was none too excited at the prospect of them being done for public indecency, but as she thought it over some more, she realised that there might not be a problem. She had Alfie back and the timing of any progression in their relationship would be down to him.


	2. Christmas Day 2013

**As perfect as the pregnancy reveal was, I was annoyed by the lack of focus that Kat and Alfie got in the actual episode, so I decided to do something about it. In this, they knew that they would have to be out of the Vic at midday on Boxing Day.**

"Right, presents," Alfie called to the family as he got up from the dinner table, rubbing his hands together expectantly. "I'm so going to win this," he said, winking at Kat.

"Wouldn't count your chickens mate," Kat smiled knowingly.

Charlie set his wine back down on the table, having taken a sip. "You two haven't changed a bit, is there anything you haven't had a competition over?" When neither Kat nor Alfie spoke a word, Charlie believed that they had been too wrapped up in each other to notice his comment, but this hadn't been the case.

"You did get me something then? Only I can't see anything under the tree," teased Alfie.

He wasn't graced with an immediate response; Kat's thoughts were firmly on what her dad had said. Not that she would change anything about the way they were with each other; she had found her mind back at the last time that her father had mentioned the two of them being in competition. It had been the same night that they had agreed to try for a baby. Eight years later and it was finally happening.

"Of course I have." Kat insisted. "For doubting me Mr Moon, I'll have mine first."

She was about to make a dive for the tree to retrieve the pile of presents that she had yesterday berated him for overspending on, but was beaten to it by Alfie. As he deposited three boxes of varying sizes at her side, he found himself being rewarded with a tender embrace, much to the annoyance of Mo. Feigning a cough and by so doing, causing the newly reunited couple to spring apart, she grumbled, "Lynne's picking your Dad up at nine you know!"

Alfie knew he'd overspent on the presents by some considerable amount, but there was no way that the process of opening them was going to take up seven hours. Seven minutes if Alfie had his way; he was beyond excited to see what Kat had for him, and almost felt as if he were Tommy, with such enthusiasm for the more commercialised element of this particular holiday. He looked over to to his love to suggest that her Nan might have lost it, as he waited for her to kick off proceedings by opening the first present.

"Ignore her, just because she's not getting any!" Kat replied crudely.

Having made the point that she resented such an allegation, Mo had been persuaded; reluctantly of course; to let it lie in order to avoid delaying things further. With her father currently occupying Tommy, Kat tore into the first of her presents.

Peeling back the wrapping paper, Kat soon found a box which gave nothing away. It was simply your bog-standard brown box. "Bikinis?" she announced, surprised, upon opening it. For one thing; currently unknown to everyone else in the room, she wouldn't be able to fit into them come summer. As Kat turned to Alfie in confusion, Mo eyed the garments with a frown upon her face, as if envying the fact that she could no longer get away with wearing such a thing.

"They're kind of the wrapping paper if you like; this is the real present," Alfie told her, producing an envelope from his back pocket, which he quickly passed across the table to Kat.

"Paris?" she gasped, hardly believing what she had seen. Alfie nodded enthusiastically, but his sense of excitement was soon curtailed as it registered that Kat wasn't sharing in the positivity. "Alfie, we agreed that the limit was fifty quid, not five hundred!"

"It's only money, isn't it?" he remarked, in an attempt to alleviate the tension. Mo on the other hand seemed to have been bitten so to speak by prior encounters with her granddaughter's temper, and was cautiously backing away from the table, with Charlie eyeing her curiously. "Kat we're not going to be homeless; the bills are paid up on this place so we've got all the money from the safe."

He was right, it was only money, but Kat had an entirely different reason to have her reservations about this getaway. With this in mind, she mumbled, "Yeah," and gave him a weak smile. Alfie had an inkling that there was something else to this, but decided against forcing the issue. He knew that she hadn't cheated on him; everything else could wait. She would come to him when she was ready and not before, it was the way they had always worked best.

As Mo and Charlie exchanged concerned glances, it was clear that they were anticipating a row. Mo followed this display of apprehension by making a grab for Tommy, ready to take him out of the room. It wasn't like Mo to shy away from such a scene; usually she enjoyed the fallout, but it was no place for a little boy of not even three. Such preparation appeared to have been rendered unnecessary as Alfie then silenced Kat by tenderly passing her another present.

This time, Kat tore off the wrapping paper to uncover the box to what she presumed would be either a necklace or bracelet. Her prediction was proved correct upon opening the box; she unveiled a silver bracelet, complete with charms and sitting against a velvet inlay.

"Ten," Kat announced, once she'd counted the charms, among which there was a high-heeled shoe and a handbag. "Alfie, the charms alone must have been over fifty quid."

"One for every year we've been married. Happy Anniversary Mrs Moon," Alfie explained, as the tears built up in Kat's eyes and began to trickle down her face.

"Thank you," she uttered gratefully, and shot out of her chair and around to the other side of the table, where the two embraced. "We're not though…" she whispered, regretfully.

Alfie responded to this by moving in to peck Kat's cheek gently. "It's a formality, we'll always be married," he reassured her. "In here," Alfie added, gesturing to his heart.

With the tears threatening to fall again, Kat moved in for a kiss. Before it could turn particularly heated, they were interrupted by Mo, who as usual, got straight to the point. "If you two have quite finished with the private love fest, can we get on with presents?"

"Last one," Alfie promised, circling the table and gathering up the final of the three gifts. "This one didn't really cost anything," he teased while handing over the parcel. Kat could relate to this; her gift to him had also cost nothing, yet anyway.

Inside the wrapping paper was a photo album, its cover a very lifelike image of the Vic. Kat gasped at the thoughtfulness of the item, before turning it over to reveal the first photo; their wedding day. As she took this in, Kat found herself wishing that she had gone as far as to get him an additional something within that fifty pound limit. He would be overjoyed, but were it not for the role of chance; fate if you preferred; she'd have had some serious thinking to do.

"It's all our special moments from this place. I thought it was fitting, what with…tomorrow," muttered Alfie, barely able to admit that they had reached the end of this chapter in their lives. Granted, not all of it had been positive, but almost everything good that had happened to them had occurred within the four walls of the Vic.

Turning the pages of the album, Kat almost immediately found that she was doing so to the tune of her grandmother's self-indulgent griping. "Why can't I find someone like him? Fat Elvis gave me a Breville!"

Kat wasn't even half way through the contents of her gift as yet, but she was already becoming all the more emotional. She'd seen pictures of their engagement party, Tommy, Jean and Stacey, Zoe, she and Alfie with Nana singing karaoke; even a picture of them behind the bar the night before. It hadn't even occurred to her that anyone had been taking snaps; she for one wouldn't have, when they were handing out free champagne. "Would this be one of the cheap Brevilles you offered me? Unlucky Nan!"

In her animated state, Kat proceeded to drop herself onto her former husband's lap, snaking her arms around his neck. "Thank you," she said, before moving in for a kiss.

"What for?"

"Everything," she told him sincerely. "For the presents, for taking me back, for loving me, for always being there for me." And of course, for their child that as yet, he knew nothing about. "I won't screw up again, I promise."

"Hey," Alfie spoke up gently, while running his fingers through her hair. "You don't need to thank me; I only did all that because I love you. You don't need to feel guilty anymore; fresh start, yeah?"

"Yeah," agreed Kat enthusiastically, nodding her head at such a speed that she thought she might actually have done herself a mischief.

As he pulled away from the kiss that Kat had then initiated, Alfie wasted no time in enquiring as to the whereabouts of his present or presents, in his own way of course. "So?" he winked. It was suggestive, but not in the way that many others would have perceived it to be.

"It's through there," Kat told him, tilting her head in the direction of their bedroom. She was glad that she'd planned it that way; any hopes she might have had for a quiet five minutes in the corner to break the life-changing news were quickly dashed.

"Oh yeah, well don't leave us waiting on desert while you trial these … articles... as well, will you," warned Mo, as Kat grabbed her partner's hand and tugged him in the direction of the door. It wasn't as if she'd ever been one to have any sense of shame, but when your grandmother assumed that you'd acquired your bloke's Christmas gift from a sex shop, it surely took the biscuit?

Not caring to dignify the latest insinuation with a response, Kat dragged Alfie from the room and across the landing. The last time she'd been in this position, some small part of her had been dreading sharing the news, with good reason as it turned out. It was such a stark contrast to the present, wherein they were happier together than they had been in years. Kat was under no illusion; it wouldn't remain this fresh forever, but she was able to fully appreciate what she had. Sudden though it might be, she honestly felt as though their baby was fate's way of saying that everything was right with them now. As the pair entered what remained of their bedroom in amongst all the moving preparations, Kat retrieved a small present from the pocket of one of her coats, which had been thrown into the top of one of the many boxes that they had packed.

"Close the door," Kat told Alfie, beginning to show signs of panicking about what lay ahead. "Nan spent most of yesterday trying to get this out of me; I wanted you to be the first to know."

"You're not ill are you?" asked Alfie as he complied with her request.

"Of course not," she assured him, expelling a nervous giggle. "That wouldn't be much of a Christmas present, would it?"

"That's good."

Sitting down on the edge of their bed, Alfie gave an encouraging smile. He wasn't sure why, but something gave him the impression that the size of this gift wouldn't be proportional to the size of the box that Kat had just passed to him. She was smiling though, so that could only be a good sign.

He ripped the paper away from the box that he had been handed, revealing what he could only assume to be the box from a bracelet. He was a little confused at this to say the least; granted he wore loud shirts, but he drew the line a long way before the point at which he would consider wearing jewellery. "Kat?"

Kat nodded to him to signal that he should open the box; as had been the case many a time during their marriage, no words were necessary. They knew each other so well after all this time that often, a glance or a gesture were all that were needed.

Having flipped open the lid to the box, Alfie's expression turned from one of anticipation to perhaps confusion. He could read the single word that was emblazoned across the tiny window; it was having it sink in that was the problem. After all of this time? It was a dream come true for him and to allow himself to believe it only for it to be snatched away would be too much to bear. "Seriously?" he questioned, doing his best not to allow his emotions to overtake him until he knew for certain.

Kat meanwhile was finding that she was unable to read her better half. Was he happy and it was just the shock? Was he angry and he couldn't care less? Did he not know what to think himself? This was unfamiliar territory for Kat; normally, she could read him like a book, and a large print one at that. It was among what had made him so different from every other bloke that she had ever been associated with. She wouldn't be taken for a fool because he couldn't tell a convincing lie, not to her.

"It's your baby Alfie." That was it, he assumed, confirmation. It was as sure as he could ever be, short of Kat spelling it out to him.

As Alfie took a step toward her, Kat felt as though she had been transported backwards in time to that moment two and a bit years before; namely, the time that his shock had given way to anger as he'd held her head in his hands and asked her callously who the father was.

Kat breathed a huge sigh of relief as Alfie's next words registered with her. "I know it's mine darlin', I just needed to know that it was definite, you know? I didn't want to get my hopes up and that." He was now only hoping that she would appreciate where he was coming from, without jumping to the conclusion that he'd been hoping she'd fall pregnant again accidentally all along. He had; since the day she'd miscarried and had told him that she couldn't bear to try again for fear that the tragic series of events would repeat themselves, but she didn't need to know that. For someone with no biological children, was it not natural that they would be beyond overjoyed at the prospect?

"I had it confirmed by the Doctor on Monday, while you were busy flat hunting."

Leaving Alfie to his thoughts for a short while, Kat moved to sit down on the edge of the bed. Fighting the urge to throw her arms around him, she afforded him the time to fully digest the news.

As he looked up at her a short time later, Kat felt the need to explain to Alfie why she'd been less than enthusiastic at the prospect of them jetting off. "That was why I wasn't overjoyed about Paris, I don't think I ought to fly until twelve weeks; I don't want to take any risks, and those bikinis won't fit me soon."

"I'll change the date; I can cancel if you want?" he offered, his words running away with him, he was that excited.

"You don't mind?"

"Course not."

"Just change the date yeah? It'd be nice to spend some proper time together before this one's here."

In the moments that followed, Kat and Alfie were having to stop themselves from jumping around the room as their happiness, excitement and elation flowed out of them.

"Are you two nearly done in there or what?!" came a shriek from the lounge, as Kat and Alfie were getting to the point of having got the initial display of surprise out of their systems. For Kat, it could hardly be summarised as the initial surprise, but that was what it felt like. It was as if she hadn't allowed it to play out when she'd realised, knowing that she could make Alfie's Christmas by saving the happy news until that day. With their eviction looming, it wasn't as if there was anything else to make this festive period a happy one, however much they had vowed that they would have the best Christmas ever. It had been a cover, designed to distract the both of them from the inevitable, but this news had made that dream a reality.

With her mind still on Alfie, Kat reluctantly turned to the door. She knew he had questions and she understood entirely; she'd effectively cut him out of this pregnancy thus far, after all the years that they had wanted nothing more than to have a child together, and all the moments that they and to a greater extent he; had missed out on with Tommy. For a while when she'd first begun to suspect that she was pregnant, Kat had been incredibly torn between them doing the test together and her eventual course of action, knowing that Christmas was only days away. "I guess we'd better go; we'll have our Christmas yeah, we can stay up all night if we have to," she offered, turning the door handle.

"Kat?" Alfie muttered, tugging her back gently.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we should tell them? Your Nan and Dad I mean? You said she was turning into Miss Marple yesterday."

Allowing a giggle to escape her at his way of referring to her grandmother, Kat thought this over for a few moments. "Do you think we should?" she asked, not wanting to do anything further by herself when it came to this pregnancy.

"I'm happy with whatever you are babe. I'll think of some excuse for them if you want to keep it quiet."

Once she had given sufficient thought to this idea in a few moments of silent contemplation, Kat spoke up again. "Just them though; no one else until twelve weeks."

Alfie reached his arm out to the side, waiting for Kat to walk into his caring embrace. Once she had done this, he gripped onto her arm delicately and gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze, before leading them toward the lounge to re-join their family.

* * *

"What treats did she have for you then?" Mo asked, getting on the case as soon as Kat and Alfie had appeared in the doorway. She had been so quick off the mark in looking for the intimate details that Charlie was beginning to wish he had phoned Lynne to ask that she collect him earlier; the last thing he wanted was to hear the stories about his daughter's sex life.

"Nothing like that Mo!" chuckled Alfie, before remarking to his father-in-law, "What's she like 'ey?"

"I'm pregnant," Kat announced nervously, suddenly more apprehensive of her family's reactions than those of the remainder of the Square. There was some logic in that; she could deal with half of Walford believing that she'd done the dirty on Alfie again, in fact she'd be pleasantly surprised if she avoided such a reaction from the Mitchells; it was the family thinking that of her that she couldn't stomach.

It transpired that Kat had been worrying unduly, for Charlie was soon congratulating Alfie and Mo her.

* * *

Night had fallen and both Kat and Alfie were pleasantly surprised not to have had Phil, or worse Ronnie; barging in to rain on their parade, or more specifically to give them their marching orders before time. Such an appearance could have formed part of some kind of sick scheme to complete the Mitchell Christmas. Charlie had left around fifteen minutes before, at which time Mo had taken it upon herself to poke her nose in at Janine's street party. In her words, there were bound to be freebies to be had. Kat wasn't convinced, knowing Janine as well as they did, but it had got her out of their hair for an hour or two.

As Kat changed into something more comfortable, Alfie slipped through the gap in their bedroom door carrying two glasses.  
"Orange juice?" questioned Kat, as she pulled back the duvet and climbed into bed, patting the empty space beside her for him to join her.

"I'd have got a nightcap but if you're not drinking for the next nine months then neither am I."

She looked from Alfie, to the ceiling and back again, as if thanking the powers above for his presence in her life. She had it all; a man who worshipped her, a gorgeous son and a new baby on the way, and to top it all, he was so considerate that he would go as far as to make it snow on Christmas day and to join her on the wagon. "You don't have to do that," she told him. The simple fact that he'd even been willing to do it was more than enough for her.

"You're carrying my baby, it's the least I can do."

"Come here," she commanded, smiling a beaming smile and holding her arms out for him. "What did I do to deserve you?" she mused. Even by the standards of Kat Slater, she'd treated him appallingly, on more than one occasion.

Alfie knew what he wanted to get across, but what he had no idea about was how to word it. He was the one who'd talked so much about drawing a line, so how could he dredge it all back up again? "I don't want to bring it all up again right Kat, but you've been through hell you have. You were due a change of luck."

"I love you," she stated as she took the glass of orange from his grasp, setting it down on her bedside table. She had so much to thank him for, but she was a market trader and not a poet. With this came the unsettling feeling that whatever she said, it would never be enough.

Climbing under the covers beside the love of his life, Alfie repeated the sentiment. "I love you too," he reassured her, pulling her toward him and leaning her head on his chest. The scene was then completed by Kat, who had taken to clinging onto the little finger of the hand that was draped over her shoulder, in much the same way as their baby would soon be clutching onto them.

"Kat?"

"Yeah?"

"When did you find out?"

"You remember that day when you'd just signed for the last delivery, I came down and you asked what I was smiling about?" Kat recalled, the words quickly receiving the desired reception from Alfie. It was bordering on the amusing, as he could almost be compared to a nodding dog.

It had always been said that the excitement of the first time father was something else, but Kat begged to differ. He was so different to every other man and the same was true now. Alfie had missed out on so much with Tommy and he was more than making up for it. Kat had no doubt in her mind that he would continue to do more than his fair share, even if the worst happened and they were to break up again. "I'd done the test just before I came down. I was over a week late but what with the stress of losing this place, I didn't think anything of it until the night before," she added.

"When do you reckon; you know, it happened?"

She wasn't entirely sure whether or not she had been expecting this question, and was even less sure of how to put this. It only took the once, but how did you explain to someone who you'd only just got back together with that it had been straight away, especially when they were the same person that you'd tried to start a family with for four years with no success. "Your wedding night," Kat said sheepishly. Would he start to doubt that it was his baby?

"Wow. Are you sure?"

"It must have been. I went back on the pill the next day."

The glint that could now be seen in her partner's eyes told Kat that this information had given him an idea. She then stared into his eyes, waiting for the moment that he would spill.

"I can't wait to see the Mitchells' faces," he grinned, giggling.

"Alfie no!" Kat began, her urgency such that one would have been forgiven for thinking that he had been about to go and announce it all over the Square. "It's one thing going all out with the Christmas decorations but we can't tell them that, what about Roxy?"

"They'll have to know sometime Kat," Alfie replied, conveniently circumventing the issue of his ex.

"Not everything they don't, it could have happened at any time."

"You're right," he agreed, somewhat reluctantly, before asking, "Any sickness?" The question changed the subject, which pleased him greatly, but he was genuinely interested in the response.

He looked down at her caringly, to witness a shaking of the head on Kat's part.

"Nothing. I'd have sussed sooner if there had been."

"Tell me if there is yeah? If the only thing I can do to make the next eight months easier for you is to hold your hair back and stroke your back at five in the morning then that's what I'll do."

"Come here you," smiled Kat, tightening her grip on his finger and pulling him even closer to her with her spare arm. It was surprising that this were even possible, they were so close. The two remained this way until Mo arrived home. They'd have stayed put, but the disturbance that she'd caused had put the pair in fear that their home was about to be burgled.


	3. Boxing Day 2013

This was, Kat decided, insanity, as she placed the last of Tommy's toys into the relevant box. It was unquestionable. Phil was a businessman, why were they leaving now when there was no sign of any new landlord? Why had he made it so that they'd had no choice but to close the pub an hour before, so as to have the boxes over at Number 23 by twelve? He'd make nothing out of that. He'd have made nothing out of it whatever time they'd closed at, but he didn't know that. She couldn't see herself being very fond of Alfie if she was in Phil's shoes, but there was a limit. He'd never been known for having a heart, in the same way as Ian had never been known for having a generous streak, but he'd make no money out of a pub standing empty; why was he pretending to be devastated at his cousin's relationship breakdown, a cousin that he'd clearly had no contact with ten years ago?

Tommy's toys had been the final thing to pack, and so it was time for the couple to move the boxes over to their new home. What was she thinking, new home? Alfie had been far less than delighted at the prospect of moving in with Mo, but at least he wasn't going backwards. She had bent down in readiness to lift one of their many boxes when Alfie appeared in the doorway, quickly making his presence known.

"Don't even think about it Mrs, not in your condition," he insisted, as if the baby's life depended on it. It was hardly a very heavy box, and in the early stages?

"Alfie, we've got twenty minutes to get this lot over the road," she reminded him, signalling the array of boxes that littered the floor of what had once been their lounge. "Unless you can carry three boxes at once, I'm going to have to help out."

"You can carry the photos. I'll go and grab some others to help; Terry, Ian…"

"Ian?" Kat laughed. "Like he'll do that for nothing. And how are you going to explain me not helping? We can't tell them yet Alfie," she urged him.

"Peter then," he suggested. "I'm Alfie Moon, I'll think of something."

* * *

"Just clocked the new landlord," Alfie announced as he hurried into the lounge of Number 23, carrying the last of the boxes. "Idiot."

Kat rose from her position arranging some of their possessions, approaching her husband. "Let's be honest, this new landlord could be the nicest person in the world and you'd still hate them," she spoke knowingly, as she attempted to comfort him.

"He's got a daughter called _Nancy!_ Kat, if this little one's a girl," he started, his hand gravitating toward her stomach for at least the third time that day. "We can call her anything you like but we are not naming her Nancy!"

"Or Janine, Veronica or Roxanne," quipped Kat, in part because that was the type of quick witted person she was, and partly in an effort to stall the Queen Vic themed rant that was likely to ensue.

Alfie was uncharacteristically quiet following this remark, and Kat was beginning to fear that she had overstepped the mark in some way. "Are you okay, after last night?" she enquired caringly as she snaked her arm around his shoulder.

"Yeah; you said when they got engaged that his life insurance had better be up to date," recalled Alfie.

"I was joking; I didn't think she'd actually do it."

As he looked to the floor sadly, Alfie suddenly remembered that he had a rather unappealing bit of business to attend to. "I'd better go hand over the keys to this guy," he piped up, voice laced with disappointment.

"Phil's making you give the keys over?" Kat repeated, genuinely shocked. For her, that took a lot.

Nodding, Alfie began to elaborate, "He kind of implied that I'd be getting the same kind of treatment as I gave the Queen if I didn't…"

"Right," said Kat, borderline threateningly, making for the door. She was promptly tugged back by Alfie, who despite his obvious reservations and fears as far as her intended course of action went; was just as gentle with her as he always had been. His face was such that it almost tugged on her heartstrings as much as it had done a day previous, when she'd unveiled their little miracle.

"Kat, don't," Alfie urged her. "You and our little baby are everything to me; and the Tomster of course. Please don't start anything, I can deal with losing the Vic and the car but I couldn't take it if something happened to any of you," he spoke sincerely, looking Kat directly in the eye as he awaited her response, somewhat nervously, but understandably so. She wore the trousers in their relationship and always would do.

No wonder Roxy wanted him, Kat thought. No wonder Phil wanted Roxy to have him so much as to have resorted to this. Most blokes told you what they thought you wanted to hear, but he meant it. He meant every word he uttered to her. As she stared into his eyes, she could tell that he meant it with more vigour than he had meant many of the things that he had said to her over the years. She couldn't go against his wishes; with this she nodded her agreement.

"I can do this," he managed, probably telling himself more than he was her. "As long as I have you. Will you come with me?"

In that moment he was likely more vulnerable than most children. Knowing she could never refuse him anything, Kat jumped into his arms which he held out to her, only adding to the emotional intensity of the moment. "I love you," Alfie managed, as the two broke into tears once again, both for the life that they were about to hand over and more importantly for their tiny baby, their ray of hope as they faced up to an uncertain future.

* * *

The couple were soon making their way across the Square and over to the Vic, joined by Mo who had insisted upon accompanying them in the hope that the new landlords would also be running a cheap bar in an effort to make themselves popular with the locals. Free would be preferable obviously, but you couldn't have it all and she regarded herself as a reasonable person. Kat and Alfie had taken this walk many times in the past, often following a drama filled meal at the Slaters, when both were glad to be strolling away from the madness. Unfortunately for them, the minutes that were to follow would strip them of that luxury once and for all. Of course they were grateful for the fact that Mo had stepped in to keep them off of the streets, but Slater mansions as Garry had once termed it was far from their first choice of accommodation.

Kat and Alfie soon reached the Square gardens, with Mo so eager at the prospect of assumed free booze that she was about two steps away from tripping over their feet.

"Where is it you've been again Mo?" Alfie joked to this end. "Lynne's, or obedience classes?" He might have been a bit dim at times, but even Alfie wasn't stupid enough to refer to dog training classes in particular, for fear that she'd think he was implying something. He was familiar with the Slater temper, and it was something to be avoided at all costs.

"Oh shut up!" protested Mo, stomping out from behind the pair and not stopping until she had entered her old home. Alfie was undecided as to whether the fact that his comment had been met with Kat's usual high pitched giggle had worsened matters or not.

* * *

Upon entering the bar, the couple quickly spied Mo at a table in close proximity to the door at the end of the bar. She was accompanied by Cora, Patrick and a few of the more unknown faces from the Christmas party the week before.

"Blimey, at this rate she'll be taking up knitting!" Kat suggested in her usual repartee, having seen her former husband's eyes dart across to Phil and who she could only assume to be the new owner of the Vic. The light hearted comment did little to alleviate the negative emotions associated with the moment. As well as she knew Alfie, Kat had to admit that she probably couldn't list everything that he was feeling at this moment in time. Awkwardness, sadness, apprehension and probably embarrassment at this scene of Phil's making. She only hoped that the crunch as it were was not causing him to regret reuniting with her.

There was no doubt about it; this circumstance had been contrived purely for entertainment value. No other conceivable explanation existed as to why Phil had brought along Ronnie and Roxy for the occasion. It wouldn't exactly do much for his reputation if at fifty something, he had been reduced to not being able to do anything without his child-snatching cousin for back up. It would be among the most difficult things he had ever had to accomplish, but Alfie resolved that he would not give them so much as a jot of satisfaction.

With this in mind, Alfie tightened his grip on Kat's hand as he approached their table. "Mick, here's our keys for you mate," he began casually, extending his hand out for the new landlord to remove the small metal entities. He'd have preferred to simply throw them down into the middle of the table, but there was no way that the Mitchells would be running away with the idea that he was having a strop. "All the best," he smiled falsely, as Mick took the keys from him.

Whether or not the Mitchells had been convinced by this show of well-wishing toward the new owner of the establishment ought to have been the least of Alfie's worries, as a scene was currently unfolding at the other end of the bar.

"I don't like the look of this guy man," Patrick told the remainder of his table. He had come to accept that he would be out of a job, but it was an entirely different matter when you had reservations about the new management for reasons allied to the customer experience.

Swallowing the last of her G&T, Cora discarded her glass, not bothering to leave it on the table mat provided. "At least we could get a drink out of Alfie at OAP prices once in a while."

"I could get free ones." In typical Mo fashion, she always had to do two things; have the last word on any given subject and, most importantly, win.

"It ain't about the price of the drinks you know," added Patrick, causing one of the others to assume a more active role in the exchange.

"I say we vote with our feet, make use of those bus passes of ours and go down the Walford Taveners," suggested a woman of around seventy, her brittle auburn hair secured with a hair pin.

This suggestion was met with spontaneous applause, prompting those with a drink remaining to raise their glasses and Mo to sulk more than she had before. "That Phil wants to be ashamed of himself, throwing a pregnant woman out onto the street," she remarked, more than a little too loudly as she fought to dominate her friends. No sooner had the words been said than half of the bar's inhabitants were staring at the former landlord and landlady.

"Kat's pregnant?" Cora questioned, a little shocked and still too loud. They'd been back together for all of two minutes. Affairs weren't forgotten that easily; she knew that all too well having Max as a son-in-law, and Derek had certainly left his mark on her family. If people weren't looking before, they were now. Roxy was trying not to of course, as if avoiding the issue would make it go away, or better still, not have existed in the first place.

The only sound that could be heard was that of Bianca's chair scraping across the floor, as various pairs of eyes converged on the happy couple. "Nan!" hissed Kat, disapprovingly, before turning away from the locals and to Alfie. They exchanged glances, but without really having anything to confer about. It wasn't as if they could convincingly tell this number of people that it was untrue.

"Congratulations!" squealed Bianca, throwing herself in the direction of the happy couple. It was a welcome relief from the sea of shocked onlookers that they had been facing, short lived though they knew it would be. At least someone would be happy for them.

Turning back to face the masses, Kat gently patted Alfie's shoulder. A nothing gesture though it might be perceived to be by some, it exemplified the very fact that the pair always knew what each other were thinking.

Alfie let out a fake cough, one of those that people sometimes staged when nervous at the prospect of making a speech they knew was looming. He couldn't have cared less what was said about him; what bothered him was the derogatory comments that Kat would potentially have to endure. "For those of you who missed the human foghorn there," he spoke up, doing his very best not to allow his sense of apprehension to show through. "Yes, me and Kat are expecting a baby. We're very happy," he added, as Kat smiled up at him, admiring the calm and collected manner in which he had handled the situation. Almost anything would have appeared as such after the bust through the window moment, but this had been something else.

The couple stood, the picture of happiness, joy and elation, awaiting the onslaught from their public. From the expressions that were spread across their faces, you would be forgiven for thinking that they had just learned of the baby's existence themselves. In a manner of speaking, they had, especially in Alfie's case. It wasn't as if eighteen hours or so was a long time in the grand scheme of things.

"Who's the Dad?" There were no prizes for guessing which Mitchell had hollered this cruel remark across the room.

Though they had been forced apart by Bianca, Alfie made a point of taking Kat's hand in his reassuringly as he faced up to perhaps their worst critic. "I am, and you know it," he told her plainly.

"You can never be sure with her," Roxy fought back, for no other reason than to keep up appearances. Although she wholly believed that Kat would cheat on him again, Roxy knew that she hadn't, not in the space of a month. It was clear to everyone that they were still in the honeymoon phase, or whatever the equivalent was when you weren't actually married. "Any more cousins waiting in the wings?"

"I can actually," Alfie stated confidently. "This little one was conceived on our wedding night," he informed his ex, while caressing Kat's stomach. "Who else's would it be?"

With a facial expression that looked worse than a cat in headlights, Roxy made a last ditch attempt to claw back a semblance of respect. Respect in the sense that she would no longer look the biggest mug in Walford; it didn't for a minute mean that she would abandon her verbal attack. "Grandad, she'd say that just because it's the only time you can be sure she hasn't cheated on you."

"You know it's true, it was written all over your face."

"Fine, so you've finally got your own child. Doesn't stop her playing away again a year down the line. I'd have given you your own child; we were trying for a baby. What do you want her for?!"

"You, with another child. Please," Alfie scoffed. "Yes, I wanted one of my own. But I couldn't be happier that I have that with Kat and not you. Amy would be better off with Ronnie than you and that's saying something!"

"Ronnie made a mistake, she's never denied that. She'd never have hurt Tommy."

"Oh, that's ok then," came the response, dripping with sarcasm. "Never mind the hurt that she caused us in the meantime, hurt that put us on that downward spiral in the first place!"

Though she had been a great-grandmother for years now, Mo was quite like a child in that she became grouchy if she didn't get the attention she thought she ought to. "Ding ding," she contributed in a raised voice, leaving a few faces contemplating whether, at her age, she fancied herself as a sports commentator as opposed to a wheeler dealer. Kat would have made her disapproval of this interjection clear, but she didn't have the chance.

"Did you just blame my sister for the fact that this slapper can't keep her knickers on?" Roxy seethed, signalling Kat. "She's done a right number on you, I thought you were better than this Alfie."

"She's done nothing, I just saw what had been staring me in the face for months. Kat's done wrong in the past and there was a time this year when I hated her for that, but she's changed. I don't have to justify myself to you any more, it's no one's business but ours."

* * *

With Roxy set straight on a score or two, Alfie had hurriedly left the Vic, almost as if he couldn't bear being in there but not being behind the bar. Kat soon followed, concerned for him and his state of mind. What was he thinking? Had he been straight back there, or putting on a front? In the space of only a few short minutes, had Roxy succeeded in reawakening his doubts about her?

Having caught up with Alfie, all was not well for Kat. There had been no sign of affection between them, not even an acknowledgement of her presence, and though she was merely feet away from him, she might as well have been on the other side of London. It was an improvement on the other side of the world that Kat may as well have been on the year before, but that didn't mean that it sat easily with her. "Alfie, have I done something?" she prompted him nervously.

"I think I have," he managed meekly.

"How do you mean?" Kat frowned.

"Kat, what I said you know about the wedding night and knowing the baby is mine. I just wanted her to believe it. It could have happened last night and I'd still have known it was mine. I made the mistake of doubting you once and I wouldn't do that again."

"I know. I knew you wouldn't be able to resist rubbing it in and telling her, after all this," replied Kat, looking back over at the Vic for a moment, remembering; the unknown, the worry for the future, Janine, and later, Mick. As much of a wrench as it had been, Kat couldn't help but be thankful for the fact that they had gotten this out of the way now. From the moment that the bust had crashed through Phil's window, a conclusion like this had become a certainty; perhaps even prior to that. It was better now than a buyer emerging several months down the line and heaping the stress upon them at that point in time.

"You mean it?" Alfie looked up from the ground hopefully. "I was sure I'd upset you."

Kat nodded, taking his hand and pulling him closer to her. "I know I've always been highly strung and that but I was a moody cow back then and there's no excuse for it. I think things through more now before I open my gob," she smiled. "I know what you said and what you were trying to do; it's fine, we're fine."

With a full scale row safely averted, Alfie considered his next move. What was it that she was really meaning when she said she was fine? Kat wasn't exactly the easiest person to read when it came to matters close to her heart. He could predict her reactions in any other kind of row very well; know instinctively what her take would be on any given issue, but never make assumptions with any great degree of accuracy in situations such as this. Fine could mean muddling through; they'd done it for long enough in the past, too long. "Can I have a hug?" he settled for asking her shyly.

"Course you can, you don't need to ask," Kat told him as she came to a stop along in the middle of the gardens. "What are you like?" she spoke softly as she threw her arms around Alfie and squeezed him so tightly that a small part of her was worried that she might hurt him. She could imagine certain neighbours telling her that she shouldn't be, that he'd be the one hurting her eight months down the line, but that didn't bother her. She'd wanted their happy family just as much as he had, probably more. It was the final thing that would confirm to all her doubters that Kat Slater was no more. She just wished that she hadn't forgotten that herself for a time.

Finally, Alfie loosened his hold on Kat, who leaned into his shoulder as they continued across the Square. "I can't promise you I'm not going to turn into a hormonal nightmare in a few months time, but I meant what I said, I'm not gonna go cold on you again."

Tugging gently on Kat's jacket to slow her, Alfie stepped ahead of his other half and kissed her gently on the lips. It was brief, but it said everything that needed to be said. They were solid now, and though he saw her as his wife, she was in a sense his partner; his partner in everything from this point on.


	4. January 2014

**This is set when Alfie left for Australia.**

If the reality of their predicament hadn't sunk in last night with the pile of cash in his hands, it was certainly hitting home now. The length of time that he had left in his pregnant wife's company for the next month was equal to, he guessed, a fifth of the duration of the flight that lay ahead. He'd never fancied himself as a Mathematician, but then he was in no sense enthused by the prospect of leaving her either, especially now. He had everything now that he had wanted right from the first moment they met; Kat, a family of their own and in-laws that weren't a total nightmare. Alfie never wanted to leave her side; most definitely not now. It wasn't just that Kat was finally having his babies which made him feel that way, although it made the need to share in every part of this pregnancy all the more intense. The part which bothered him the most was the thoughts that his impending absence would be putting into the mind of his other half. He'd missed out on all that time when she'd been carrying Tommy; the sickness, the appointments, noticing the bump for the first time; he'd be missing some of that over again, and worse than that, would she fear that he'd leave her for even longer than a month?

Despite his insistence that he had no desire to fill their final hours together with any Masood talk, Kat had gone off at a bit of a tangent at how his luck was going from bad to worse. Being dumped by the only woman he'd allowed himself to grow close to since Zainab had left him, losing money; they'd been down on their luck of late, but they'd had each other and their twins, a brighter light than either had dared to hope for at the end of a dark tunnel.

"Kat, darlin'," Alfie began gently. "I know you don't want to think about it but we can't avoid talking about it. I have to go. I've tried the market, I've looked for bar work, what other options have we got?"

Nodding sadly, Kat found herself admitting defeat, something that was quite unknown to her. "I'll just miss you, that's all," she claimed. If she allowed her true feelings to emerge, things would get more emotional than they needed to and it would surely make the issue of saying goodbye harder.

"I know you, that's not it." There was no way Alfie was letting this one go when he was about to jet off for a month.

"What if Tommy won't sleep? You know he only likes your stories; I need my rest with these two."

"Kat," Alfie uttered warningly, knowing that she was still hiding something from him. The blessing here was that he was certain it wouldn't be anything sinister, but that didn't mean that it was fine. It was very far from ok; she needed his support now more than ever, and he was determined to provide it in any way possible; be it texting on every break and calling every evening, appointing a few extra people to keep an eye out for her, or soothing her doubts in the present. He was sure that Bianca and Terry would see Kat just fine in his absence, but if he needed to rope in Mick and Ian to support her also, he would.

"You'll think I'm pathetic," she told him, in a barely audible muttering.

"I think you're silly, I could never think that of you. Look at everything you've been through; how you've changed and the way you'll do anything for family. I think you're amazing," he smiled reassuringly.

"What if you meet someone else, or decide that I've trapped you, or both?"

Alfie looked confused. "Trapped me?" he questioned.

Shrugging, Kat continued to reluctantly lay her fears out on the table, so to speak. "You know; we haven't even been back together two months yet and already we're having twins."

"This is what, eight, nine years overdue. I could never think that, or give you up. I tried that and look what happened," he reminded her, referring of course to the brief period that he had been with Roxy. It may not have seemed so brief to Kat, but the truth of the matter was that it was just that; a mere flash in the pan in comparison to the years that they had spent, and would spend, together. "You trapped me the moment I set eyes on you; there could never be anyone else."

"I love you."

"I love you more."

"Not possible."

"I think we should just agree to disagree on this one Kat, I don't want to spend the rest of our time together debating this one either," Alfie announced. "I'm gonna go and fetch Tommy down here," he added, before placing a gentle kiss on her forehead and leaving the room.

* * *

Kat, Alfie and Tommy had it seemed been sitting together in the lounge for no time at all when Alfie announced that he had better start saying his goodbyes. Obviously, the reception that this fact received was somewhat frosty.

"Already? Alfie, your flight's not until three. It's what," Kat hesitated, as she checked the time on her phone. "Quarter past ten."

"Longer the flight is the earlier you have to check in," he lied. It didn't sound quite right to Kat; America was a long flight and they hadn't checked in that early then, but there were more pressing matters to deal with here, and she thought nothing more of it.

Twenty or so minutes later and Alfie had said his goodbyes to Tommy, telling him to be a good boy at nursery and to look after his mummy and little sisters or brothers. He seemed to have grasped this about as well as he had done the news that his Daddy would be working away for a month; that being not well at all, as among other things, he'd asked that Alfie bring him back a bucket and spade. He understood that his Daddy was leaving, but the idea that this was not for a holiday and the concept of how long a month was remained alien to his three year old self, even if he had been exposed to far more than any child of his age should have to be.

Terry was presently loading Alfie's cases into his cab, but for all the notice that Kat had taken of this, you could have told her that they had been moved there by the suitcase fairies and she'd likely have believed it. Her attention was better off focused on her departing husband, and that was exactly where it would remain until he had left.

"Call me," she urged him, doing her best to manage a smile moments prior to his departure. It was no mean feat; she'd never tire of him, and through the seven weeks or so that they'd been back together, despite everything, they'd remained in the honeymoon phase as it were. The prospect of a month apart was a terrifying one.

"Course I will," he agreed, throwing his arms around her for the final time.

It was a challenge for Alfie to extract himself from the embrace a few minutes later, as Kat had taken to holding onto him as if her life depended on it. As far as she was concerned, it did, but perhaps this being in the sense that she never wanted them to split up again was more appropriate. "I want text alerts alright?" he added, kneeling down to kiss her stomach.

Kat nodded, with most of the words that followed passing in a blur, as she began to cry softly.

"I'm not going to say it okay, it'll set me off. I'm going to say hello; hello to our new life once we get this month out of the way." He'd have been grateful for a job in the Vic as barman, in Scarlett's as a cleaner, even at the Arches as a general dogsbody, but this particular opportunity he wasn't viewing with gratitude; it was merely something that had to be done in order for them to move forward. He didn't even perceive it as an opportunity as such, all it was was the reason that he would be missing out on the next month with his wife and children.

Rolling her eyes at his transposed greetings, Kat could do nothing but cling to Tommy and try her best to see straight through her tears as Alfie walked reluctantly up the path.

* * *

Kat was staring at the phone number for the suppliers as her mobile bleeped to signal that she had received a text message. Bianca had been fibbing when she'd informed Mr Lister that they were thinking of branching out into the accessories market, but maybe it wasn't such a daft idea. If she could negotiate some free accessories if the two placed a larger than usual, maybe a larger discount too, perhaps Alfie could return home sooner. How were they to know that Fat Elvis wasn't a top clothes supplier? She and Bianca had sourced enough stock from him just lately that it implied they had obtained a better deal elsewhere.

Quickly pulling the offending object from her pocket, Kat hoped for some good news. All flights to Australia were grounded for the foreseeable; there was a bad connection and this bar was actually being opened in Sidmouth and not Sydney; it had all turned out to be a big con and he wouldn't be going anywhere, anything would do. She'd nagged and nagged him to get a job, but she was certainly regretting that right now. It would almost have been better if he'd resorted to pulling more scams; he might have wound up in the nick for the third time, but at least she'd have been able to see him every day.

Her face turned to one of surprise as the words appeared across the screen.

" _Meet me in Southend, quick as you can xxx_ ," the text instructed. Who this was from didn't need saying, it was him all over; romantic to the end.

Kat wasn't even aware of it, but she must have taken this in, for she was almost immediately shouting out for Mo. "Nan, can you watch Tommy for a bit?"

* * *

For perhaps the first time, Kat was doing exactly as she had been told, as far as it was in her control to do so anyway. This would be a whole lot easier if she didn't have to get a tube and a train to get there, but she wouldn't miss it for the world. He'd been gone what, half an hour; already she was missing him like crazy.

Kat tapped her foot impatiently as she waited in the queue for a ticket machine to come free. Why was it that people were incapable of making up their minds before they caused a mass hold up? Alfie would really be needing to check in at this rate and they'd miss their chance. They'd missed enough chances in the past, she didn't want them to miss any more.

Having eventually got to the front, Kat was getting a serious sense of deja-vu at the alternatives presented to her. Why so many? It was Southend, not the middle of London. _Southend Airport. Southend Central. Southend East. Southend Victoria._ How was she supposed to know which station was closest to the pier? She hadn't been on so much as a bus since Alfie had crashed the wedding more than ten years previously. Alfie hadn't said that that was where he wanted to meet her, but he didn't need to say it. It was their place. Some might have branded her a cynic, but the way Kat saw it, any ticket collector would tell you that the most expensive option was the closest. That and she really didn't have the time to lose her place in the queue and start all over again. Glancing over at the departure boards, Kat saw that the next departure was bound for Southend Central and quickly selected that option, hoping for the best.

* * *

Kat had to admit that she had almost been bowled over when she'd realised that she had picked the correct station, almost at random. She was never lucky, and having Alfie back and twins on the way, she felt as though she'd had her allocation of luck for the next five years all at once.

"Kat!" Alfie called, catching sight of her from the bench that he was sitting on, on the front naturally.

"Alfie," she grinned back, as she dashed toward him. "I'm sorry; earlier, I just couldn't bear to watch you drive off."

"Sit down there you," he gestured, as Kat joined him on the pier. Technically, he was telling her what to do, but he was never bossy with it. With Alfie, there was always a very good reason for it, and she'd be foolish to refuse him. "What are you like ey?" he asked rhetorically.

"You were planning this all along weren't you?" she asked as she popped herself down next to him.

The cheeky grin that was plastered across his features was enough to give him away as he replied innocently, "I might have been."

"Couldn't have chosen somewhere closer could ya, like the playground?" It wasn't that there always had to be a problem; only most of the time; but negotiating public transport on a Friday, in her condition?

"This is our place, well except from the Vic," he admitted sadly. "It had to be here."

"What did?" Kat questioned, wondering whether she'd missed something here as she looked out to sea dreamily.

When Kat turned back to Alfie, he was on his knees before her, hand outstretched. "Kat, will you marry me… again?"

"Alfie, course I will!" she squealed, leaving Alfie with quite a challenge as he tried to put her engagement ring back where it belonged.

"Sit still will you, you dozy mare," he urged, as he unsuccessfully attempted to hold an excitable Kat still with one hand and slip her ring on with the other.

"What a lovely way to speak to your fiancée!"

Smiling, Alfie responded, "You know I don't mean it," as he finally managed to get her ring back in its rightful place. He then kissed the spot where the ring lay adoringly, before Kat pulled him up to face her by the neck of his jacket.

"Alfie, how are we gonna do this? We need all the money we've got for Tommy and these two," she worried aloud.

"I didn't mean on my first day back or anything," Alfie tried to reassure his fiancée. "With the money I get from this bar, we've got enough to do Tommy's room up nice for him, paint the nursery for the twins, get the second cot, get them some clothes, stock up on nappies. It's enough to set us up, then we can look at it."

"It might be thousands we're talking about here but it's not going to last forever. You still don't have a job when you get back," she voiced nervously.

"I know that Kat, but it's enough to get us started; take the pressure off while I look for something else. I'm not holding you to a date here, just one day… yeah?" Was she having second thoughts?

"Yeah," she muttered contentedly, cuddling into his shoulder as he sat back down beside her.

"I promise you, we're going to be just fine. You, me, Tommy, Bert and Ernie."

"I hope you know there's no way we're calling them Bert and Ernie," she told him seriously.

"No, what should we call them then?"

"Depends if they're boys or girls."

"I thought you thought they were boys."

"I do, but I've been wrong before, I can be wrong again." She'd been so wrong she could continue to list her errors almost non-stop until Alfie returned, some more serious than others. Being too stupid to see what a good thing she had, taking him for granted, lying to him, cheating on him, all five times. And those were just the Alfie themed wrongs.

"Kathleen Moon, be wrong, surely not," Alfie joked playfully.

Kat didn't want to put it into words, or even to go as far as to allude to the issue; today would prove to be the saddest day for a long while, and she had no desire to add to that by referring again to the biggest mistake of her life. As she stared again into Alfie's eyes, she realised that she didn't need to. Again, he knew precisely what she was thinking and nodded to reaffirm that it didn't matter anymore. "So what should we call them then?"

"I thought of it the other day when Terry was ranting on about Carol and David," Kat began, leaving Alfie wondering where this was headed, or rather, what names she would want to inflict on their unborn children. It wasn't as if Carol and David's families had a normal streak between them when it came to naming their children. Billie, for a boy; Deano, Jimbo and a dog called Wellard. "Victoria."

Breaking out into a smile, Alfie let out a gasp, while resisting the urge to hug the life out of her for about the fiftieth time that day. He needed to know that she was serious first. "You mean it?"

"I miss her too Alfie."

"I thought you'd want to name her after Jean," confessed Alfie. It was as if the two were now certain that they would have a daughter.

"We still can, she's got to have a middle name. I never got my parents giving Lynne a middle name and none of the rest of us," Kat told him, quickly adding, "It's got to be Victoria don't you think? Like we said before, if it wasn't for her, we wouldn't be together." She was desperate to avoid the Mum topic at the best of times, so she certainly wasn't discussing it today. "How pretty would that be hey, Victoria Jean?" Kat trailed off. "Alfie, what do you think?"

"It's beautiful, you're beautiful and she'll be beautiful," he gushed. Every time he called her beautiful she told him that he was a flatterer, but he couldn't help himself, not when it came to her.

"Of course she will, with us two fine specimens as parents," beamed Kat.

"What about if we have a boy?" Alfie asked softly.

"Alfie Junior, after his father and the only man I'll ever love."

"Really?"

"Why wouldn't I?" She was the first to admit that Alfie could be a bit stupid at times, but this was off the scale.

"I remember when I wanted to call Tommy Alfie Junior, you didn't want to."

"Alfie, this'll probably sound stupid now but at the time, I just couldn't risk it. It wasn't that I didn't want to," she told him.

"Risk it?"

"Alfie, you said you'd be Tommy's dad but there was a time that Billy said that to Mo about Freddie. Look how that turned out. I couldn't call him Alfie Junior when I didn't know whether it would work out," she admitted, hoping that he wouldn't take it the wrong way. She would never have held it against him if it hadn't have worked out; when she'd decided to keep Tommy, she'd perceived it as a clear choice between her husband and her child. It'd been far more than she'd ever dared hope for when he'd offered the chance of a family life. It couldn't have been easy for him, she knew that; taking on someone else's child when they'd spent the four years prior dreaming of their own, even more so later on when he'd believed that he could never have that. It was a fairly inappropriate consolation; you can't have children, but here's one I made when I was out of my skull.

"It makes sense, we'd probably have argued about it until we were blue in the face back then but I get it. I really do," Alfie said, speaking a little slower than usual. The words had literally fallen from his lips as his mind had worked back through that time. "So what's Alfie Junior's middle name going to be then?"

"You choose," offered Kat. "I picked the rest of the names."

"No you didn't, you suggested, I liked them and we agreed."

"Think of some ideas while you're you know…" Kat told him, not wanting to say the words going away for fear that it would make it more real.

"You think of some too and we'll compare notes when I get back. Together, all the way," he reiterated, leading the parents-to-be to lose themselves in their own little world for a time.

* * *

"I better go," a reluctant Alfie told his expectant; what was she? Fiancee? Wife? Partner? Lover? All of them?

"Alfie, I love you for this, but I hate you for it too."

"Kat, darlin', we've been through this…"

"I don't mean about you going, I mean for making me say goodbye twice in one day. I've got an extra dose of hormones you know," she interrupted him, doing her upmost to put on a brave face.

"I've told you, it's hello, not goodbye. I'm coming back. I knew you'd panic when it came down to it so I arranged this. We might not get remarried any time soon but it's a symbol, okay?"

Kat nodded, doing her best to keep her tears at bay, at least until he'd gone and she was en-route back to the train station. "You be careful, right? We need you back here in one piece."

"Scouts honour," Alfie remarked; it had become something of a private joke between them now. He climbed to his feet and held his hand out to Kat, which she took without question. She didn't want to see him drive out of her life; temporarily though it may be, but she would follow him anywhere, just as she always had. America, Spain, anywhere.


	5. Chapter 5

**This is set while Alfie was in Australia.**

Kat Moon had never been one for getting out of bed much before 9am. 8:50 had been usual when they had lived and worked in the Vic, 8:00 at a push if it was her turn to drop Tommy at the nursery. Kat Slater of course had a far worse record, rolling up at work at such outlandish times that no reminder was necessary; if she had shown up at all of course. Today would see an exception; being up and in the kitchen at 6:45am was nothing short of lunacy, but an eleven hour time difference and continents separating them left her little in the way of alternatives.

Having flipped open the laptop, Kat prepared an extra strong cup of coffee as she waited for it to load up. Being so dazed at this hour, she had almost attempted to boil the kettle with no water in it; had searched the kitchen cupboards for the missing webcam, before combing the lounge again for the object. She wasn't entirely sure whether it just wasn't there or she couldn't see straight, but with less than ten minutes to go until Alfie would be calling her, she had little choice but to resort to the unthinkable; wake her Nan and ask her. It wouldn't be pleasant, for Kat could clearly see that this was where she had inherited her dislike of early mornings from.

"Nan!" she shouted from her place in the lounge. Although she'd probably pretend otherwise, Mo would hear, as she had been relocated to the downstairs bedroom. She had been reluctant to say the least toward the move, feeling as though she was becoming the spare part in her own house, moving into what had formally been the spare room. It hadn't taken long to convince her however; Kat and Alfie had argued that she would stand a better chance of not being woken up at all hours by their expanding family if she swapped rooms. "Have you seen the webcam?"

"The what?" Mo grumbled, rubbing her eyes and emerging from her new room looking not dissimilar to a bear with a sore head.

"The webcam. You know the camera on that laptop doesn't work! Alfie's signing up for Skype and calling me like now!" For something that was in no way life threatening, particularly time critical or otherwise urgent, she was making one hell of a song and dance out of it, Mo thought, as she shook her head in disbelief.

Mo faintly recalled having used the said webcam the day prior, but at that moment, she was in no mood to head upstairs and dig it out. "Can't he just call like a normal person? You know, with a phone? Marvellous invention!" she remarked sarcastically.

"It may have escaped your notice Nan but Alfie's gone to earn money, not spend it all on calling me," Kat objected, while trying to shoo her Nan off to search.

"I was using it with Fat Elvis…"

"Don't you dare finish that; I think I'm gonna be sick!" Kat announced, dashing in the direction of the kitchen.

"Morning sickness…" decided Mo, as she reluctantly headed off to retrieve the webcam.

* * *

Kat eyed the laptop screen agitatedly as she waited for it to sign her in. It was already five past seven, and with every passing second, she was growing more and more concerned that Alfie would believe that she'd slept through her alarm and go back offline. He had a shift starting less than two hours from now. Finally, the screen changed and a box popped up to inform her that she had received a request from katsotherhalf. With an expression covering her face that was a blend of happiness and amusement, she quickly accepted the invitation and with unparalleled haste, answered the call that followed.

"Alfie!" she squealed, with some evidence of her earlier worry still present.

With Kat looking panicked to a degree, Alfie's mind immediately descended into overdrive. Was she in pain? Was Tommy ill? Was she ill? Was she losing their longed for children? Each alternative was as unbearable as the one that had preceded it. "Kat? What is it? Is something wrong?" he asked, following with the next question before she'd had sufficient time to answer the one before it.

"I thought I'd missed you, I thought you'd have given up on me…" she began to trail off, before being cut off by her partner.

"Hey, don't upset yourself," he urged her. "I'll never give up on you, I'd wait as long as I possibly could for you," he continued reassuringly. "Where's all this come from anyway? You're only five minutes late; you wouldn't be my Kat if you weren't."

She couldn't help herself; before either of them could utter another word, Kat had burst into gentle tears.

"What's that for? It wasn't that bad was it?"

"Hormones," Kat shrugged, wiping the tears from her eyes.

* * *

Once Kat had composed herself, talk soon turned to Alfie's choice of username. It was on his prompting, in an effort to cheer her up. He only had to look at her for a second to realise that she was feeling down; just because everyone was okay, it didn't make it hurt any less that he was on the other side of the world.

"What do you reckon then? The username?" he hinted, with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"I think you're a soppy git but I wouldn't want you to be any other way," she sniffed.

"I just want the whole world to know that you're mine again.

Kat smiled at this. "I never stopped being yours."

"And it puts the birds off!" Alfie stated, without thinking.

"Alfie!" she spoke up worriedly.

"What?" he asked her gently, not yet realising the problem.

"You basically just told me that you're a babe magnet."

"Are you saying that you don't agree?" he teased.

"I'm gonna be as fat as a house soon, do you think it's helping knowing that you're over ten thousand miles away with women dropping at your feet?!" despaired Kat. She recalled the days that he'd become jealous when she'd so much as spoken to another man. How was she supposed to feel, pregnant and this time, not even there to pull out any hair extensions?

"Kat, I've told ya. I only want you, you and our family. Why else would I be doing this hey?" he tried to reassure her, while silently cursing himself for making her feel this way. She'd always been vulnerable because of her past, never really grasping how he could want someone like her, and though he had forgiven her for the whole sordid affair, he knew she hadn't forgiven herself and probably never would. It meant that her worries and fears were all the more intense than they had ever been before.

"Sorry," she spoke up meekly, fighting back the tears once again. "I'm a mess, I miss you so much."

"I miss you too," Alfie quickly reciprocated her feelings. "It won't be for much longer; if you are a mess you're my mess and I love you," he told her sincerely.

With this, Kat quickly hopped out of her seat at the kitchen table and made a grab for a box of tissues that lay nearby. "You could have left me an unlimited supply of tissues, not a flipping carcass Alfie Moon!" she called back, drying her eyes.

"How's that going?" he enquired, hoping that they could now get on with updating each other on the events of the past week. Meanwhile, Alfie made a mental note to be more careful not to stick his foot in it in future.

"I've got Shirley lined up as a buyer, she wants to make do pies for the Vic. Dropping it over there this afternoon."

"Told you it'd be a nice little earner for you," he replied knowingly. "You try and relax, take yourself off shopping with the money and get some things for the baby Moons."

"No," insisted Kat.

"Kat, it's only a few things while we can afford it. We could run into trouble if we have to buy everything in one go," Alfie reasoned. "You're not going to jinx anything, it's different this time," he finished gently.

"I want us to do it together."

"Mrs Moon putting off a shopping trip, this is a first," joked Alfie.

"Alfie, together yeah?" she pressed him.

"All the way," he smiled. "I can't wait you know."

"And it wasn't nice at all, that thing nearly made me hurl. I got Terry to chop it up for me and stood there singing Old MacDonald!" Kat added.

"Lazy as ever I see," smiled Alfie. She might be down, but she hadn't lost her spirit.

* * *

"So how are things going over there?" Kat asked, a part of her dreading his response. What if the bar wasn't going so well and he had to miss out on even more of the pregnancy? What if she had to cope alone for longer? What if it had all been a trap, and they'd gone through all this for nothing?

Alfie paused. Where should he start? The demographics of the local residents? The weather? The food? "It's not bad," he decided, leaving Kat wondering what it was that he actually meant. Granted she had a bit of a suspicious mind, but when something was 'not bad' it didn't exactly mean that it was good, did it?

Kat sat back in her chair and pulled her unimpressed stance as she waited for Alfie to elaborate. "Not bad?" she repeated.

"Well the kitchen staff still need whipping into shape, we'd be better off having your Nan as the chef at the minute!" he decided, pulling a face at the memories of Mo's curries, roast dinners and many of the other creations that he'd enjoyed; he used the term loosely; or rather endured over the years. The company on such occasions had been what had made the meals enjoyable. What had Sean been complaining about when he'd criticised Jean's sausage surprise?

"It must be bad," agreed Kat, craning her neck as she sought to check whether her Nan was in the vicinity. She knew their opinions were more than valid and was in no mood to spend her day justifying them. It would be like saying goodbye all over again when Alfie had to start his shift, and that fact alone would undoubtedly put a downer on the remainder of her day. In a sense it would be history repeating itself, not so distant history at that; goodbye was goodbye, whether it was over a computer or in person as the love of your life drove out of your life for a month. "Punters ok though?"

"It's a lot quieter than the Vic," Alfie announced, leading Kat to wince as if this automatically equated to a longer stay in a foreign country for him. "There's no Cora passing judgement, no Pat type character for you to fight with, no Dexters or Jays to keep the place young." Maybe Pat wasn't the most appropriate of comparisons, but he never wanted to mention Janine ever again.

"Made any friends?"

"Not really. Wendy I suppose."

"Wendy?" Kat repeated, clearly taking exception to him having befriended a female. She remembered what had happened with his last so called friend, and with her prior to that. She was of the belief that men and women could never be just friends.

"Kat she's about sixty! Why would I go playing pull a pensioner when I've got a wife and three kids at home?" he asked her. "Blokes go looking for younger women; I've got you."

"Don't you forget it either," she told him sternly.

"I might be stupid but I ain't that stupid. You're my life and when I'm out of here, I'm gonna spend the rest of it proving that to you," he assured her. "Trust me?"

Instantly nodding, Kat smiled a genuine smile at the screen ahead of her. "You're the only person I've ever trusted."

"I really want to kiss you right now."

"That all? I was hoping for a bit more than that," she replied suggestively.

"You're going to be the death of me Kathleen."

* * *

Kat and Alfie had been talking about nothing in particular for around twenty minutes when Spencer popped his head around the door of the lounge that Alfie was sitting in. He turned to his brother and then back to the camera. "Actually darlin'," Alfie interrupted her. "Spencer wanted a word. Is that alright?"

"Course," she nodded in response, slightly nervous. Spencer wasn't an intimidating person in the slightest, but the possibilities as to what he could actually want with her made her feel a little uneasy. She hadn't really had any option, but she couldn't help wonder what she had let herself in for as Alfie told the both of them that he was going to fetch a drink and would be back in five. It didn't take five minutes to go to the kitchen for a start. Would she be on the receiving end of a lecture on the Michael subject? Derek perhaps? Or might he act the tough guy and warn her not to put a foot wrong again? She didn't need the lectures, or the warning. Her beyond foolish actions had cost her everything and now that against all odds, she had it and more back, she wouldn't be revisiting that path to self-destruction.

"How's my favourite sister-in-law?" Spencer asked pleasantly as Alfie left the room and pulled the door to. Kat couldn't help but wonder if that was what people usually did when they had you in line for a grilling; did they lull you into a false sense of security first? "Fine thanks," she smiled back. Only time would tell whether she would remain touched by his sister-in-law comment. She knew that he had always preferred her to Alfie's first wife, but if the form of address had been all part of a plan to pave the way for the reading of the riot act, she wouldn't remain at all convinced that he meant what he said.

Kat had always been one for getting things out of the way, and it was this mentality which spurred her to press Spencer for his intentions. "So?" she questioned.

"Er… I was thinking about coming over to see you all after the twins are born. I just wanted to check that you were alright with it first before I mention anything to Alfie? Didn't want to get him excited for nothing and that." Spencer's words were a little on the rushed side and it was apparent that he was actually nervous of what Kat would think.

"I weren't always that unapproachable was I Spence?" she remarked light heartedly in an attempt to relieve any remaining tension.

"Nah," Spencer quickly informed Kat. "I just didn't know how you'd take it, you can be a scary woman when you want to be!" he admitted, hoping that she wouldn't take it the wrong way. "I haven't really spoken to you since… since Nana died I guess and all of a sudden I'm after a holiday."

"Phones work both ways Spence, I could have called you but I never. Of course you can come, we'd be glad to have ya."

"Really?" Spencer asked, a small part of him still doubtful. Three children under four years of age would be a challenge; did they really need him cluttering the place up?

"Really."

Spencer paused as he took this in, before speaking up again. "Don't say anything to Alfie, yeah? I thought I'd tell him when he leaves to help stop him getting all down about not knowing when he'll see me again," he revealed his intentions. "Don't get me wrong, he's itching to go home but it's just goodbyes, you know?"

"Yeah, he's always hated them," acknowledged Kat. "Spence?"

"Yeah?"

"Alfie was saying some stuff about how his username would keep the women away, and someone called Wendy. They don't try anything with him do they?" She trusted Alfie implicitly and had never worried for a moment that he would ever cheat on her again, but there was something about her predicament which made her doubt almost everything. It was the knowing she supposed; she wouldn't be able to cope as a single parent of three young children.

Looking away from the camera momentarily, Spencer finally noticed his brother's choice of username and let out a short chuckle. "Bless him," he commented. "They wouldn't even if they wanted to. He shows that scan picture off to nearly everyone that walks through the door you know," he reassured his sister-in-law. He hadn't thought much of it at the time, but having grown up a lot over the last ten years, he now recognised that maybe it had played a part in Vicki's abortion; it couldn't be a pleasant thought, bringing a baby into the world when you doubted that its father loved you, or wondered if he was only sticking around because he thought he should. "He spends about six hours a day talking about you, minimum; ten daydreaming about you and I can only presume the other eight actually dreaming about you."

* * *

"Alright darlin," Alfie greeted his wife as he sat back down and Spencer left the room. "What did Spence want?"

"You'll find out soon enough," she told him playfully.

"Plotting for my birthday are we?"

"We might be," she responded, the master of disguise. Her face was giving nothing away.

Alfie shook his head in defeat as he accepted the fact that he wouldn't be getting any information out of her ahead of time, whenever that might be. "So, how's things with the twins? Much sickness?"

"Too much," Kat mumbled back. "You know Nan was talking about Fat Elvis earlier; too much information, you know how she is. I said I was going to be sick and she even tried to blame them for that!"

"I should be there," Alfie muttered sadly, regretfully, even solemly. "It's not right, you're going through hell for our family, I should be there to help you."

"It's not your fault."

"Doesn't change anything though does it," he mumbled.

He really did take things to an extreme at times, it had to be said. "Alfie, I'd be throwing up whether you were here or not. I'd much rather have you here for me when I can't even put my own shoes on. You can't do that if we're still desperate for cash," she reasoned, hoping he would continue to see the benefits of getting it out of the way now. It represented quite a shift; she had been the one most reluctant for him to take up the job.

"You're right," he sighed, leading Kat to step in again to try and lighten the mood.

"So, Spencer says you've been showing a certain picture off to everybody."

Alfie nodded. Now that the whole of the Square knew, he wanted to shout their happy news from the rooftops. It wasn't as if any of them knew who Kat was anyway, aside from what he told them about her. "I might get it put onto mugs you know," he joked.

"Don't do that," Kat told him.

"Why?"

Smiling, Kat revealed, "I've had confirmation through of the twelve week scan. 11th February. Do you reckon you'll be back by then or shall I get them to change the date?"

"I'll be there," he immediately responded, before breaking into a rendition of _I'm So Excited_.

His singing on this occasion was terrible, but Kat didn't think she'd smiled this much since he'd left. "You wally," she giggled, having endured around half a minute of her other half likening himself to a strangled cat.

"I'm serious, Oz can like it or lump it. I can't wait to see our babies again."

Kat rolled her eyes. "I noticed," she stated flatly. "I knew I should have told you in a week or two."

* * *

"Tommy looking after you?" Alfie enquired, leaving the subject of the twins for the first time in a good half an hour. He'd asked about her thoughts on the name front, whether she was showing yet, who they should ask to be godparents, whether they should have different godparents for each twin; the list was almost endless.

"That would depend on your definition of looking after."

"Really?" he questioned her further, staring curiously at her.

Kat nodded. "He told the whole nursery that Mummy and Daddy were having two babies."

"Definitely his mother's son then."

"Oi!" she retorted, feigning offence. "Nothing to do with you I suppose, Mr Tell the Whole Bar."

"Is his lordship awake yet?"

"I'll just go and fetch him," agreed Kat, promptly making for the door. "Love you," she called back, as if it was goodbye. As she again turned away from the laptop, she almost bumped into Mo.

"Hadn't you better be getting Tommy to the nursery?" she reminded her granddaughter, full of the morning spirit.

"Can you take him today Nan?" I'm still talking to Alfie, I don't know when I'll get the chance again." Her tone changed to one of sorrow as she neared the end of her request. It wasn't often that Kat was for want of a better word; desperate for something so trivial as a bit of babysitting or little time, and it was this unfamiliarity that found Mo agreeing, despite her urge just to crawl back into bed and sleep.

Nodding, Mo spoke up again. "Why don't you go and get him dressed, I can say hello to Alfie, he can speak to Tommy and then I'll get him to the nursery?" It was a rare episode of good planning on Mo's part, who more often than not lurched from one hairbrained scheme to another, often associated with a brush with the law.

"Right," Kat agreed quickly, as she made her way up the stairs.

* * *

"Here he is," announced Kat as she returned to the kitchen, where there didn't seem to be a great deal of talking going on.

Mo looked to Kat as Alfie made himself known to Tommy. "Tommy!" he called out excitedly. "How's my little boy today ey?" he asked as Tommy's eyes darted confusedly around the room. Where was it that his Daddy's voice was coming from? He couldn't see him anywhere? Was it all a trick?

Gesturing out into the hallway, Mo silently communicated that she would be ready when Tommy was and left the room, affording the small but growing family their moment.

"Sit up at the table Tommy, that's it," Kat told her son as he pulled one of the chairs out with difficulty and started to clamber onto it.

With Tommy safely seated at the table, Kat returned to her seat, which stood half abandoned in the middle of the kitchen floor. "Say hello to Daddy," she instructed the three-year-old.

Alfie had taken to waving enthusiastically at the toddler, but Tommy was still struggling to grasp what was going on here. "There," Kat told him, pointing to the screen.

"Daddy."

"Hey little man, I've got you a great present."

"Dinosaur."

"It might be, you'll have to wait and see," teased Alfie.

"Cuddle," Tommy demanded, although at his age, it came across more as being adorable as opposed to bossy. The request saw Alfie lose his sense of composure to an extent, with Kat attempting to hide her true feelings from her son as she cuddled him to her.

"I'll be back soon and we'll have the biggest cuddle ever."

"Come on you, Nanny's taking you to nursery," Kat told Tommy, before Alfie asked him to say goodbye. Tommy did as he had been instructed to do, leading Alfie to blow him a kiss as Kat picked him up and passed him carefully to her Nan. Mo must have been earwigging as per, she concluded, for she had poked her head around the door at exactly the right moment.

* * *

"What did my Nan have to say for herself then?" Kat asked Alfie as the pair fell back into conversation.

Alfie chuckled at the memory, before proceeding to enlighten his wife. "Would you believe it, she only asked me where the payment was for that invoice she left me."

"Sounds like Nan," agreed Kat, breaking into a giggle too.

"Kat?" Alfie asked, stopping her in her tracks. She looked almost petrified, as if she seriously thought he would finish with her over the internet.

"What's she like ey?" Kat joked, seemingly in an attempt to divert the subject away from the alternative that she had decided ahead of time was just too terrifying to face.

"Kat, this scan…" Alfie started, prompting Kat to breathe a huge sigh of relief.

"Yeah?" she responded immediately, engrossed in the subject.

"Will they tell us the sex?"

Kat paused for a short while as she considered how best to put this. Would he think she was stupid? Paranoid for not wanting to know the sex this time around? A nutcase just like Ronnie? "Not this scan they can't, it would be the next one. Alfie…" she hesitated. "Alfie, would you be upset if we didn't find out what we're having?"

"Not upset no, I just thought it would make it easier; preparing and that," he told her quickly. Alfie had more than he had dared hope for in the last five years, with one on the way at last, especially after the miscarriage. Two was just… he didn't even have the words for it. He'd waited nearly forty years for the love of his life and fifty for a child of his own; he could wait a few more months to discover whether he would have sons or daughters.

"You're right," admitted Kat, referring of course to the planning element. She'd been the most apprehensive of the two when they'd discovered that they were expecting twins, so why was it that she couldn't get the terrible thought out of her head? "You're going to think I'm such a stupid cow."

"Kat you can talk to me about anything, you know that."

"I don't think I want to know. If I…If I hadn't been so impatient as to ask about Tommy, Ronnie wouldn't have been able to take our baby away from us. We wouldn't have drifted apart, I wouldn't have… we never would have split up!" she began to sob.

"Kat…."

"I'm sorry," she sniffed.

Alfie exhaled deeply, running his hands through his hair and tugging at it a little more than gently. This was bordering on the unbearable. She needed him and he was so far away that it would take him in excess of a day to reach her. "You don't have to be sorry for anything, not to me, not anymore," he said, while fighting to keep his own tears at bay. "Ronnie's not pregnant; no bloke except Jack would go for her after what she did."

It seemed that it had all been in vain; still her upset failed to subside. "If it makes you more comfortable then we won't ask," he finally agreed. "I'd do anything to make you happy, you know that."

"But the planning…" Kat voiced, continuing to doubt herself.

"This is us we're talking about here. We can do anything when we put our minds to it. We'll get a few unisex babygrows to get us started, then there's all of Tommy's old stuff if they're boys," he spoke reassuringly.

She nodded, but it wasn't long before the nagging voice in the back of Kat's head found another problem. "But the toys. Like you said, we can't afford to buy it all in one go once they're here," she trailed off.

"We're gonna love these babies so much they won't need toys." With these words, Kat was struggling to decide whether Alfie was in denial, naïve or just the soppiest individual ever to have lived.

"You can never be serious, can you?" she choked out, close to tears once again.

"Only about how much I love the four of you, and how you mean the world to me."

"Stop it, you'll have me bawling my eyes out."

"Seriously, we'll stick a hundred a month in a savings account starting from when I get back. There's no difference whether we do it that way or buy it bit by bit."

Kat smiled gratefully as she considered everything that she had; everything that she'd come so close to not having. He had the knack for turning anything and everything into a workable possibility, and did so without question for no other reason than it was what would make her happy at the relevant moment. She could barely comprehend why he would go to such lengths to ensure her absolute contentment; after everything that she'd done to him, the simple fact that he wanted to be with her at all was more than enough. She could have lost him in so many ways; Michael, Derek, encouraging him to leave her after the miscarriage, and that was just for starters. Their twins meant the world to her and were it not for a chance conception, they'd never have known the feeling of absolute bliss that both had now that their family was to be complete; all because she'd have been too afraid to try again.

* * *

In the market, Bianca was discovering that even a life juggling four kids, a boyfriend, a mother with a life threatening illness and a father on a mission to recapture part of his childhood had not been sufficient preparation for handling the early morning madness alone. She had Aleks breathing down her neck for something; what she couldn't say, although there was a good chance that it involved either some rent or Kat's lateness; school kids rifling through the clothes on their way, putting them back anywhere but a remotely correct place, and one or two passers-by taking their chance and attempting to lift stock. She'd have said customers, but to describe someone as a customer, they surely had to buy something, or at least intend to do so? This lot had made it more than clear that their intentions were the exact opposite. "Mo!" she called out desperately, eyeing her suspiciously as she strolled through with Tommy clutching onto one arm.

Seemingly unperturbed by Bianca's plight, Walford's most criminally experienced pensioner continued on her way, passing Kat and Bianca's stall without a word, and causing Bianca to shout her down with more vigour. "Mo! Did you not hear me or something? I'm dying here!"

"Can't exactly miss you with that gob, can I?" she moaned, turning reluctantly back.

Unsuccessfully trying to co-ordinate bagging a top with one hand and finding the correct size for another customer with the other, she asked, "Where's Kat?"

"I don't know," she responded unhelpfully, before continuing through the market with Tommy and leaving Bianca to deal with the wrath of the customer whose new purchase had dropped to the floor as a consequence of her multitasking.

"But you live in the same house!" she yelled exasperatedly, to no avail.

* * *

"I'd better go," Alfie told Kat morosely, having looked down at the time; his shift started in ten minutes. "I miss you."

"I miss you more."

"Not possible," Alfie countered. "I keep falling out bed you know, it's too big without you in it." It was Alfie all over; this goodbye would be just as painful as the one a week before and he knew it. He could always be relied upon to lighten the mood.

"I don't have that problem," joked Kat, winking.

"Oh really?" It was a sign of how well they knew each other that within weeks of reuniting, they could be this playful with each other.

"You might need a crowbar to get your bed back off Tommy you know," Kat enlightened him unnecessarily. He'd struggled to trust her at times in the past, but the past was exactly where such occasions were. Splitting up was probably the best thing that could have happened to them. She'd learned from her mistakes, and as a result, he didn't need to live in fear any more. From the moment the words had left her lips, he'd known without a doubt that it was Tommy she'd been referring to.

"I'm sure he'll give it up when I tell him he's not getting his presents if he doesn't."

"I wouldn't be so sure, he never lets go of me. Just like his dad."

"We know a beautiful woman when we see one." It was just as well that Mo had taken Tommy to nursery rather than standing around with her ear against the door. It could be fairly reliably predicted that at that point, she'd have asked for the sick bucket.

"Charmer."

"Love you," Alfie reminded his other half. He'd known when they first got together that she was a demanding woman, in more ways than simply wanting him to cook for her. Her self-esteem would never be the best; she'd had a nagging voice in her head since 1983 that told her she would always fail and would never be good enough for anyone; that no one would want her for more than sex. It was up to Alfie to remind her that there was no truth in this. She might have cheated on him but he would always take some of the blame for forgetting to do so. She had needed him to save her from herself and he'd failed. Never again would he make that mistake.

Their goodbye could be likened to a conversation with one of those relatives that you loved to hate; people who said the word over and over again, restating their love for the other also. But there was nothing dull or repetitive about the long parting in this instance. It was Kat and Alfie and nothing would ever be easily or quickly accomplished. The fact that they would be completing their family at the ages of forty-four and fifty respectively was evidence of that.

* * *

"Nice of you to join us," Bianca greeted her business partner sarcastically as Kat finally arrived at the stall, half-an-hour late.

"Didn't realise you were after Lister's job," quipped Kat, while tying her money belt loosely around her middle, mindful of her unborn children.

"What kept you? I saw your Nan with Tommy, she tried telling me she didn't know where you were."

Kat had acquired a reputation over the years, aside from the obvious one; for always remaining composed. She couldn't however maintain a straight face on this occasion. Her Nan had come out with some excuses in her time, she could do better than that. "I was skyping Alfie," Kat explained once she'd regained control.

"Since when did you have Skype?!"

"These two might have the oldest parents in the class, but we won't be the parents who act the oldest," she remarked, stroking her stomach lovingly.

Bianca nodded, understanding. "That's true. You should have told me, I wouldn't have minded."

"I didn't think, sorry," Kat said, smiling weakly. "On cloud nine wasn't I; silly cow I am."

"Talking of telling, I thought I should let you know because you're my best mate and that," Bianca suddenly piped up, speaking so quickly that Kat could barely separate one word from the next. It was as if she feared that it would otherwise become something unspoken for weeks, months; in the hope that not mentioning it would somehow make it not have surfaced. "My mum's got cancer."

What was the right thing to say? Did Bianca want her to say anything, or just acknowledge the fact? For all she knew, Bianca might have had people talking at her with stories of their experiences with cancer for weeks now. It might be a welcome change for a person to talk about anything but a terrible illness, an illness that had claimed her own mother. Kat simply took her friend in her arms, patting her on the back gently to let her know that she understood. "I won't drone on at you but I want you to know that if you ever want someone outside of the family to talk to about it all, I'll be there."

"Thanks Kat," muttered Bianca, unsure. She had a feeling that Kat's mother had died of the same; would it bring the reality of the predicament crashing down if she discussed it with her at length? For all she knew, she could be Kat in a year's time. "I'll let you know, I just want to think about something else at the moment, you know?"

* * *

Bianca certainly got her wish to have something else to think about that afternoon, whereupon Shirley cornered Kat for something that was as yet unknown to her. The possibilities were endless. Why are you a nicer person than me? Why does my hairstyle look like I've had an argument with a power socket and yours doesn't? How come you can get a decent bloke like Alfie to worship the ground you walk on, when I'm snubbed by Phil for a Rapunzel reject?

"What was that all about?" she wasted no time in asking as Kat returned to the stall.

"The meat," Kat confessed quietly, leaving her friend with a confused expression covering her face.

"What?"

"You know, the stuff Alfie got that me and Terry had to cut up; that I sold to Shirley. The meat that's in those pies they were offering us earlier." It was just as well that Kat wasn't presently being her usual loud mouthed self; she could have done a good job of implicating a number of the Square's residents had she been so.

It was a rare occurrence; Bianca said nothing. Kat had showered her with gestures to the effect that she keep it down, not realistically expecting her to do so. "Turns out it's dog," she added, delivering the punch line.

"I wondered where Roxy was lately!"

With Bianca's opinion of Roxy made public, it wasn't long before the two market traders were in hysterics, and Tamwar's plight lost in the ensuing madness. The departure of the Assistant Market inspector prior to his accomplishing anything was a source of much amusement for the two, who soon caught sight of Mo, wielding a rather thick notepad.

Sensing that Bianca fully supported this particular distraction from their daily business, Kat wasted no time in cornering her grandmother. "Take it Tommy got to nursery alright then?"

No response to this question was obtained, as the pensioner remained captivated by her latest scheme. The lack of recognition prompted Kat to make a grab for the book, which she wasted no time in sifting through. "She's only running a flaming book on the twins' birth date!" Kat called in Bianca's direction. Her opinion on this avenue was also as clear as mud. "Bit previous isn't it, I'm not even twelve weeks gone yet!"

The small matter that she disapproved of the concept was not sufficient to detract Kat from examining the object in its entirety, accompanied by one of her closest confidantes of course. "Someone's only placed October!" Kat announced, clearly outraged by the very suggestion. It was likely that even Mo had heard the comment, in spite of her diversion to the cafe.

"Probably Nikki," Bianca was quick to propose.

"What's she done now?"

"She's still breathing."

"Ouch."

"Ere Bianca, fancy a punt?" bellowed Mo, emerging from the café laden with three coffees and a sticky bun. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all; she actually had bought someone outside of the family a drink without expecting payment for it. Kat presumed so anyway; only time would tell.

"Pick the 18th July," Kat quickly instructed Bianca, who beckoned Mo over to them.

"I'll have a tenner on the 18th July."

"You can't be due that soon," Bianca whispered curiously, having double checked the Maths involved. She had to have conceived in November in the earliest, so it would be at least August. She wasn't the greatest with numbers; you only had to consult the stall's accounts on that front; giving birth three times had rendered dates engrained within her mind.

"Twins are always about a month premature; they'll be out then if I have anything to do with it," added Kat, with her grandmother safely out of earshot.

"Why?"

"It'll be the anniversary of the day that Alfie proposed to that peroxide cow."

It was a brilliantly evil sword with which to avenge; what? Kat wasn't the kind of person to inflict pain on another unprovoked, even if they were a Mitchell. "She holding up the annulment or something?" questioned Bianca, at a loss for what other objections Kat could have to the youngest Mitchell sister. Did Ronnie have a policy never to snatch other people's children on the 18th day of the month?

"Poison pen letter through international mail. I'm a slag apparently. Don't take a genius to work out who sent it."

"Does Alfie know?" Bianca eyed her friend concernedly.

"Are you joking?" Kat hissed, immediately jumping on the question. "I need him here with me, not serving time for assault in some Spanish nick," she managed, voice shaking and the tears beginning to cloud her vision.

"You know that's got to be the only time I've ever seen you proper vulnerable, you know?" spoke Bianca, her words more of a statement than a question. "You were a miserable cow when you were apart, but never scared."

"Thank you very much!" answered a faintly amused Kat. "I spent six months on my own when I was carrying Tommy, I couldn't do it again. Not with twins." She'd never been one to let her true feelings be known, but maybe it was high time that she did. Kat had always chosen her carefully when it came to who to trust, excepting Ronnie and a few others, so why shouldn't she? Bianca might rival her for the Square's biggest gob, but having been a single mother, she could appreciate the fear and see it for what it was; rational. If only she'd talked about her feelings more in the past, she could have avoided breaking her husband's heart and resigning herself to a life of misery.

"He's on cloud nine-hundred Kat, Alfie's not going anywhere," she chuckled at her own exaggeration, but it was true. "He'll be back soon then you can put this whole thing behind you."

"He's not if he has any choice in the matter," recognised Kat, a clear improvement on her state of mind prior to having been reassured by Alfie himself.

"Kat," Bianca spoke warningly.

"I can't help it," she protested. "When we were told we were having twins, I was petrified. But Alfie… he thought we'd won the lottery. He's the only person who can calm me down with just a cuddle, a kiss and a few words." It was clear to anyone with as little as half a brain cell that Kat adored him, irrespective of the mistakes she'd made in the past. That pretty much ruled Roxy out of contention. It was Walford; in throwing a stone you stood a good chance of hitting someone who had cheated on a spouse or partner in the past, and most of those with an in-law who ought to have been off limits. She herself had been guilty of the same.

"Soppy mare," decided Bianca, pulling her friend in for a hug as she did so. Partially, her sudden show of affection had been attributable to her friend's emotional struggle, but it was as fortunate as it was convenient that Tamwar happened to be passing at that moment.

"Soppy and silly, I'm not doing very well today am I?" Kat recalled, making light of the situation. It was this brave faced attitude which would have to keep her going until Alfie returned.


	6. February 2014

**This is an alternative to Stacey's return that I wrote when I saw the trailer.**

 _"You're dragging up the past and into our house."_

 _"She's my family."_

"Tommy, Bert and Ernie are our family. What about them?"

"I won't let them get caught up in it." It seemed that Kat had resulted to her second best defence mechanism, something which she had perfected over the years; the art of denial. Mouthing off was the best, naturally.

"They already are. Kat, you're nearly three months pregnant."

"Nothing's going to happen to them."

"You don't know that. You were only changing a light bulb before and look what happened. You're talking about charging off half way round London!"

"We ended up with twice the number of babies as we were expecting. I don't think we're going to end up having quadruplets just because I go to visit Stacey and try to bring her back to the Square."

Sarcastic, deluded, impulsive; brilliant combination. He didn't like to think of Kat being subjected to emotional trauma that had its roots in her tragic past, especially when he was the cause of it, but at this juncture, he firmly believed that he had no viable alternative. "We almost lost our babies. Do you really want to go there again?" Alfie pressed his partner cruelly.

Kat's jaw immediately dropped in the midst of this uncaring comment, as she struggled to find her words. "How can you say that to me?! You know how guilty I felt about the whole thing!" she managed after a delay which easily exceeded half a minute in duration.

"Don't do this then!"

"I have to," protested Kat, without elaborating on the underlying reasoning.

At this, Alfie could be seen hanging his head as he struggled to appreciate the idea that Kat should have to do anything, never mind chasing a fleeing criminal around the capital. Admittedly he'd done just the same in that he'd done favours that he shouldn't for individuals that weren't even first degree relatives; Jake and Danny were prime examples, but he'd never have implicated himself with a wife and children at home. It was a fair point that he'd had the former; journeying into criminality had presented a convenient escape route for him, a reason to get divorced. He'd never loved her and having married her only to fit in amongst his thirty-something married friends, it had taken a good one. With the life he had now, he was even struggling to recall why it had been such a big deal for him to be the same as everyone else his age. He and Kat had never done things the normal way and he'd never been happier. "You don't have to do anything. You're supposed to be taking things easy."

"I owe her."

"Kat, you've been keeping her out of the nick for the last three years. She owes you," he argued. Unbeknown to him, he was fast approaching the point of no return on the road to uncovering the only secret that remained in between them.

"She's been my cousin all her life. It's not all about what's happened in the last three years," she hit back fiercely.

"I don't recall you having much to do with her while we were in America. Or Spain." Even Kat wouldn't be able to find a convincing excuse to account for that.

"I don't need this Alfie," Kat insisted, eyeing him heatedly.

"Exactly, you need to focus on Bert and Ernie."

"Stop grinning at me like that."

"What?"

"The I'm right face. Guess what, you're not," she spat, turning to the door.

"There's something you're not telling me, I know it. We're not going there again Kat, no more lies remember?" he prompted his wife, placing his palm on her shoulder, his voice firm. His grip could not be further from this, he could never be anything but gentle with her, like she was a precious doll.

Growing serious, Kat sighed in defeat. "It's not really my secret to tell."

"I'm not going to tell anyone, am I? I'm on your side, I have been since the first day we met," he reassured her, pulling her into his comforting arms and stroking the small of her back caringly.

"You told Ryan I knew where Stacey was before."

"Kat…" Alfie spoke in the tone he often utilised when he felt she needed to rein that temper in a notch. There was no malicious intent, no disapproval. He knew better than anyone who and what she was; he would never again make the mistake of coming across as being ashamed of her. The truth was that he couldn't be prouder of how she had come through everything; she needed someone to believe in her and he would be that person. With that confidence instilled within her, she wouldn't fail. "The bloke wanted to see his kid. I couldn't not tell him, I'd be beside myself if you ever took off with Tommy or these two," he told her softly, his hand darting to her slightly expanded stomach.

Alfie's words immediately justified his indiscretion; she'd done far, far worse. He was far too understanding and empathetic, but Kat couldn't have it all ways. Had he not been, she'd still be in the gutter.

"I've been right there with you keeping Stacey out of prison ever since, I wouldn't blab if her freedom depended on it, would I?"

"Ok," Kat relented, taking his hand in hers, as if it would somehow ensure that he'd be unperturbed by this latest revelation. She couldn't count the number of Slater family crises that he'd wound up in the middle of, always keeping the peace. "Just so you know, I could never take the kids from you. You're the best father any child could ever have," she suddenly reassured him.

"You're changing the subject, I know you."

"Zoe," she muttered, giving nothing away.

"What about her?"

Kat gulped, suddenly more afraid of his reaction than she had realised prior to this. Her daughter had been involved in a murder. Would he regret creating a family with her, wish that he'd gone for someone normal, calmer and otherwise unremarkable? Her daughter was an accessory and her cousin a murderess; could he believe it ran in the family? "She…she…" the expectant mother choked out, eyes suddenly averting to the floor.

"It's ok Kat, whatever it is, you can tell me," Alfie consoled her, nudging her chin upwards gently and forcing her to look him in the eye.

"She was there with Sam when Chrissie killed Den."

He didn't shout, he didn't back away from her in disgust, he didn't throw plates. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Alfie enquired calmly.

"I just didn't, we weren't together when I found out," shrugged Kat. She'd feared that her daughter would be heading for a prison term, it was hardly a great advert with which to claw your husband back. Alfie had taken on enough of her baggage the moment they'd got together.

"Why didn't you tell me afterwards? I thought we could tell each other everything?" It wasn't that he was disappointed in her, or felt let down by her; he simply wished he'd had the opportunity to be there for her. Alfie had seen first-hand the state she'd got herself into when Zoe had raised the leaving subject, it would have been bad enough for her without knowing that.

"Like you told me about Little Mo you mean?" Kat retorted, quickly checking her phone. With no confirmation on the address front, she would simply have to try her luck.

Alfie stretched his arms out ahead of him, as if calling a truce. "We both kept big secrets and we were wrong to. We've drawn a line under all the old stuff, we agreed."

Nodding, Kat parted her lips and allowed the remainder of the tale to flow. Better to get it over with, she convinced herself, like tearing off a plaster. "I didn't ask her to, I'm not proud of it; Stacey gave Zoe an alibi to keep her out of it."

It was becoming scarily regular; Alfie Moon being seemingly lost for words. He hadn't known what to say when she'd revealed to him that she was pregnant either. Somehow however, Kat couldn't imagine the eventual reception being quite so positive on this occasion, not positive at all in fact.

He finally acknowledged the new information, taking her hand in his and stroking it. Kat presumed from this that he wasn't going to run a mile, but what would he do instead? Lecture her on how she could ever have allowed a sixteen year old to put her head on the block; tell her she'd done her bit and to leave the rest to Max; announce that they were through unless she dropped this?

"Where's this flat then?"

"You mean it?" Kat sucked in a gulp of air, pleasantly surprised by this turn of events to the extent that she sounded not unlike a person who had just stubbed their toe, or one who had suddenly managed to recall the answer to the tiebreaker in a quiz.

"Jean wouldn't be too impressed with us if we just left her to it, would she?" Alfie grinned at her, loving being back in the company of his family, even if Kat did question everything.

"What changed your mind?"

"What you said just then, it made sense. It's not just you bending over backwards for everyone else like you usually do and never getting any thanks for it," Alfie revealed, bringing her into his arms once more. "You shouldn't have had to go to Max, it should have been me. I want it to be us against the world Kat," he added sadly, resting his chin on the top of her head as he brought them closer together.

"It wasn't all because I was scared that you'd be against it. Max had to get Jack's help to track her down."

"Kat, if we're doing this… there needs to be a limit. You're not going to run yourself ragged if the police get involved." By his own admission, Alfie had never excelled when it came to laying down the law before, especially to his wife, but he urged the powers that be to allow him to do so now, just this once.

"Hardly likely," she replied dismissively. "The only thing the law had on her was Janine's word. It's not like they can believe a word she says now is it?" she opined, sidestepping the details.

"Still, you promise?" Silence.

"Kat?" a persistent Alfie spoke up sharply. There was no way he would stand for the love of his life to embroil herself, and most definitely not while pregnant. Taken aback by his defiant tone, she made eye contact with him. "I'm only doing this to protect you and our babies; you know I've always thought a lot of your family."

"I promise," she uttered reluctantly. Fortunately, she'd become polished at putting on a front over the years and Kat could keep her hesitancy inconspicuous. Reassuring him further, Kat moved in for a kiss.

Their embrace was soon interrupted by a sudden knocking at the door. "I'll go," insisted Alfie, breaking away from her.

"Alfie," a gentle calling followed him as he moved a few steps closer to the door.

"Thank you, for everything," chimed Kat, once he had turned so that he was once again facing her. "I love you."

"I love you too," he instantly said in return. "You take the weight off your feet a minute, I'll get rid of them and we can go."

* * *

Opening the door, Alfie allowed the 'tough guy' reception to run through his head one final time. All recognition of his intended greeting vanished from his mind as he took in the identity of the person before him.

"Stacey," he finally acknowledged, relieving her from her nervous wait.

She eyed him curiously, speaking up as she attempted to lighten the mood. She'd had some disappointing welcomes in the past, but this was in a different league entirely. "That car of yours was a bit of an antique but a people carrier?" commented an amused Stacey.

"Kat's pregnant, we're expecting twins so if you've come here to cause trouble, keep her out of it," Alfie replied warningly. Countless neighbours over the years had informed him that trouble followed Kat around, but the way he saw it, Stacey was the Slater with trouble in her wake. Janine and Ryan, Archie; Alfie was confident there would be more, but he'd hardly got to know her.

Having been updated as to the events of the last three years by her mother now and again, Stacey could respect that he would have his reservations. With Kat's condition, he would do everything in his power to ensure that she had a straightforward pregnancy this time around; that was the kind of bloke he was, just like Bradley. "I'm not here to start anything; I was told that Kat was looking for me so I came by."

Nodding understandingly, Alfie backed away from the door. "You'd better come in then."

"I wouldn't worry about getting your coat on darlin'," announced Alfie as the pair drew closer to the kitchen door, behind which Kat would be waiting. "Look who's here," he teased as he then popped his head around the aforementioned door, before opening it fully and stepping sideways through the small gap in it.

"Stacey!" Kat squealed, the moment her eyes met with those of her estranged cousin.

"Kat," muttered Stacey, advancing toward her and pulling her in for a hug.

"How have you been? How long have you been back in London for? How's Lily?" the questions spilled from Kat's lips.

"Blimey Kat, I can only answer one question at a time you know," the youngest Slater protested with a giggle. "Why don't you see for yourself?" she offered cryptically.

As she searched the room for a clue as to her cousin's meaning, Kat was starting to resemble a person whom was waiting to cross the road; she looked from her left to the right, still none the wiser as to what her relative had been referring to. Looking to her husband for some input, her eyes finally fell upon a young girl at Alfie's side. "I can't believe how grown up she looks," she commented.

* * *

A short while later, Lily had been introduced to Tommy and the two were happily playing together in the lounge. Kat, Alfie and Stacey meanwhile were partaking in a coffee as they sat around the kitchen table getting reacquainted.

"What brought you back then?" Kat asked, taking a sip from her mug.

Stacey abruptly ceased tapping her fingers on the table at this, sighing in defeat. She ought to have known that it would only be a matter of time before her cousin extracted the truth. "People were starting to suspect something in Mexico."

"So you thought you'd revisit the scene of the crime. Clever," Kat opined in her usual sarcastic fashion.

"Give the girl a chance Kat," Alfie protested, making a grab for her hand. "She didn't plan to come back to Walford. The old bill are hardly likely to think that she's in London after all this time," he reasoned.

"And if they find out?" she argued, now turning on him, her eyes burning into his.

"Janine's a murderer; they can't seriously believe that Stacey stabbed her after that," Alfie spoke, his hatred for the woman in question simmering away inside of him as he did so.

"Only if she's found guilty," Kat reminded the two, determined not to lose touch with reality even if everyone else did.

Immediately turning away from her, Alfie got to his feet. "I don't believe you," he voiced disappointingly, retiring to the corner of the room in his strop, where he mulled over the events.

The sudden crossed words left Stacey at a loss for what had occurred in her absence. They'd disagreed before, usually resulting in Kat throwing a pouting face and him immediately making it up with her.

"I know she did it, you know she did it, but you know what the law are like," began Kat as she set about justifying her earlier words. It was fair to say that Michael had been the subject of more than one altercation between the pair, but not recently. "Alice pleaded guilty, it'll be less hassle to do her for it instead of Janine."

"Is someone going to fill me in on what's gone on here?" Stacey cut in before Alfie could respond.

"Janine stabbed Michael and made a cousin of Bradley's think she'd done it," summarised Kat, while silently pleading with her husband to re-join her at the table.

"That cow!"

Kat seemed to give up on playing the amicable wife at this point, turning her attention to Stacey completely. "Will you be sticking around then?" she asked hopefully.

"I don't know," managed Stacey, her eyes falling on her cup as she tried to dodge the awkwardness of the situation. Not looking her cousin in the eye and seemingly finding the pattern enthralling, she added, "I'd like to, I should have kept in touch more. I'd like to get to know Tommy and the twins."

In her surprise, Kat looked from Stacey to Alfie. It was the first time she'd paid him any attention since he'd seemed to give her the cold shoulder. Crawling back wasn't her style.

"He told me," confirmed Stacey.

Before Kat could decide upon her next move, Alfie was on his knees at her side, making his apologies. "Kat, I'm sorry. I was an oversensitive pillock. If anyone's taking things the wrong way here it ought to be you. Forgive me?" he pleaded.

"Sit down you," voiced Kat, gesturing to the now vacant chair at her side. She grabbed Alfie and pecked him on the lips as he drew close to her, signalling that she had let the whole thing slide. What had it been? An argument? Hardly; no crossed words had been exchanged. A disagreement? A childish strop? With the two set to become parents again in the near future, Kat could only be sure of one thing; it was history.

Stacey failed to hide her amusement at the scene, then making her view known. "You two can't last two minutes without bickering like ten year olds, can you?"

"It's being married to a big kid. Sometimes I have to play him at his own game," she winked.

"Where's my mum then?" Stacey suddenly questioned, changing the subject. Leaving them to their own devices, they'd be upstairs before you could say bedroom. The evidence of this was growing in Kat's stomach; the remarkably fast conception a testament of this fact.

The question was met with concerned glances on the part of both Kat and Alfie. Stacey had always been extremely protective of Jean, it was understandable. Having spied the looks that Kat and Alfie exchanged, she knew that something was going on. Perhaps not everyone would have sussed, but she was a Slater through and through.

"She's living in Brighton with her partner. She's fine, happy…" Kat revealed to her concerned cousin, only to feel the wrath of a woman scorned. There was no doubt about it, the experiences had changed her. She was tougher, more self-assured, resilient.

"She's what?!" Stacey was aghast. "You know what her record's like with blokes! I thought you two cared about her!" she raged.

"Stacey she's fine, Kat gave him the fourth degree first," chuckled Alfie. "He knows everything, he's not going to run out on her."

The youngest member of the family shot the couple a look as if to say that she wasn't entirely impressed by this. "A bloke that I've never met knows that I've killed someone; fantastic."

"Maybe we should kill two birds with one stone then girls," Alfie suggested, rescuing his wife from having to justify a relative stranger's knowledge of the subject.

Kat eyed Alfie suspiciously. "What are you up to now Mr Moon?"

"Nothing," he argued. "I just thought, Stacey can meet Ollie so as he isn't a stranger any longer and she can be reassured that he's a good guy."

"That's the best idea he's had all week," she informed Stacey playfully, pinching her husband's cheek gently.

"I ain't sure about this…."

"Nan! Get Tommy and Lily ready, we're all going out," Kat had yelled down the hallway before Stacey could lay her reservations out in their entirety.

* * *

No more than ten minutes later, a reluctant Stacey had been ushered out to Alfie's new people carrier, which he had purchased with some of the proceeds of his trip to Australia. It was new in a manner of speaking; it was a novel possession for him, but far from new where the age of the vehicle itself was concerned. It was twelve years old, but would suit their purpose, far better than the Capri would have done. People always insisted that everything happened for a reason, and for perhaps the first time, it dawned on Kat that they had been correct.

"I don't know why I couldn't just get the train you know, it's a bit cramped back here," grumbled Mo as Alfie pulled out of the Square.

"Do me a favour Nan, it's massive. It ain't like I'm taking me entire shoe collection with, is it?"

Glancing in the interior mirror, it came to Alfie's attention that his grandmother-in-law was more than a little uneasy. "I get it; she doesn't like it because he's a copper."

"He's a copper an' all?! This gets better," Stacey told the whole car, and probably the entire pavement also; in her nervous state, the returnee had left her window wide open.

"Retired," was Kat's single word response.

"I wouldn't sweat it Stace, your Mum's become quite the criminal in your absence."

For Stacey, this was becoming a day of surprise after surprise; maybe shock after shock was more appropriate. The saying had it that bad luck came in threes, but how many more bombshells could she subsequently expect?

"And we all know whose fault that was, don't we?" Kat enlightened her cousin, by way of addressing her grandmother warningly and glaring in her general direction.

"Anyone care to fill me in here?" asked Stacey, in amongst the riddles that her relatives had taken to speaking in.

Kat paused, before peering back into the row behind her. "Someone claimed unemployment benefits in your mum's name and had her take the rap for it," she clarified.

"And she burned down Ian Beale's restaurant," Alfie chipped in.

"Alfie!" scorned Kat.

Having heard the latest revelation, Stacey looked to Kat disapprovingly, as if asking how she could have allowed Jean to become embroiled in something like this. "She wasn't alone in it; charges were never pressed. Who knows who actually started it."

As it turned out, Stacey had little interest in who did what, preferring to trade accusations. "You lived with her, how could you not notice she was acting strangely? Surely you checked her pills?"

"We weren't together at the time, I wasn't living there," shrugged Kat. It was a fair comment that she and Jean had lost some of their closeness during that time.

Kat's statement appeared to serve as a dose of reality to Stacey. How could she hold them responsible for signs that had potentially been missed when she hadn't even kept her promise to stay in touch? At least they'd been there, she reasoned sadly. "So how long have you actually been back together?" questioned Stacey. She wasn't prepared to miss out on the gossip, she had her reputation as Walford's gossip queen to uphold.

"Two and a half months," stated Alfie.

"Aren't you over two months pregnant?" Stacey was curious, she'd got the impression that these were Alfie's biological children.

"Make up sex wasn't it, or have you never done that?" Kat narrowed her eyes at her cousin. She'd done a lot of things, surely she was familiar with the concept?

"I'd just be grateful for some of any variety!" announced Mo, causing the remainder of the car's inhabitants to gag.

It wasn't long before Stacey had recovered from the unpleasant thought. "I've missed you, Nan," she joked, rolling her eyes.

"I think I should just book these two into the nuthouse now you know, living in the same house as her," mused Kat.

As Alfie took on board the instruction given by the road sign that they were now passing, he saw his chance. "We could stop by on the way, I think we're going to have to go the town route you know," he offered.

Looking over at him, Kat was lost. This went far beyond the level of Alfie based stupidness that she'd learned to decipher over the years. "You what?" she frowned.

"Three and a half ton weight limit on this road, I'm not so sure we can come down here with Mo…"

For the first time that day, Kat laughed freely, as if she was not the slightest bit worried over anything else. It was something he longed to see. Stacey could also be seen smiling a genuine smile.

"Oi!" a voice whined; the identity of the person took little working out.

* * *

"So this Ollie, where did my mum meet him?" Stacey recommenced the interrogation of her relatives as the group arrived into Brighton.

"They were both keeping allotments."

"They met again at a speed dating event," Alfie added.

"Very quiet Nan," accused Stacey, as she turned to check on her daughter.

"Nan's worried it'll be awkward because she stole from his allotment," Kat informed Stacey.

"What did you go and do that for? It's not like you could make much out of it."

"I think this is the one," Alfie informed the remainder of the car, as he pulled into a parking space situated in front of a small bungalow. It was surrounded by flowers of various types. Jean had definitely been busy, if it was indeed their house that was.

Kat dove out of the vehicle as soon as it had been parked. "Good job, I'm busting!" she told the family crudely, dashing unsteadily for the door. "Stace, why don't you come and knock?"

Taking little additional encouragement, the young woman strolled up to the door, cuddling her daughter close to her. While Alfie retrieved Tommy from the back seat and locked the car, Stacey tapped on the door nervously. What would Jean think? Would she be angry that she hadn't contacted her sooner? Disappointed that she'd rolled up to disturb her new life? Would her only interest be Lily?

Stacey contemplated this further as she waited for the door to be answered. She was soon spared of the wondering as the door swung open and her mother appeared in the doorway. "Surprise!" Stacey beamed, as if hoping to inspire enthusiasm.

"Stace!" Jean gushed, leaping out onto the doorstep to embrace her daughter. Her appearance had barely changed in three years, easing the feeling that she had missed out. Unfortunately, the same was not true of her granddaughter. Jean's gesture had cleared the way for Kat, who rushed inside the property in search of the facilities. "Don't mind if I use your bathroom do you, Jean?" she called as she went.

"Yes! Of course! It's the one right at the back!" Jean squealed excitedly, although Kat having heard was unlikely, at the rate she'd taken off. "Hello Lily," she spoke to her granddaughter adoringly, leading Stacey to instinctively pass the little girl to her. "Alfie, Tommy, Mo," she acknowledged. "Come in, come in."

Carrying Lily with her as she disappeared back into the house, Jean gestured for her extended family to follow. "Ollie, guess who's here," she chanted happily down the hallway.

In the lounge, Jean and Stacey were seated on a couch angled diagonally to the television, with Lily in between them. Mo had taken a chair located in front of the window, while Alfie and Tommy were on a second sofa, adjacent to the door. Ollie soon made his entrance, and not liking to make any assumptions as to Alfie's relationship status, took the empty chair beside Mo. Whether he had come alone or with Roxy was anyone's guess. Preoccupied with her guests, Jean was far from the upfront person he had come to know. Normally she'd have let slip the latest gossip in five seconds flat.

"Ollie, this is my daughter Stacey and my granddaughter Lily," Jean eventually broke the silence, indicating the young woman and little girl at her side. As Ollie greeted the two warmly, Kat wandered into the room and took her seat by Alfie, who wasted no time in tucking his arm behind her.

It wasn't long before Jean showed just how she had acquired a reputation for noticing those things that others might not. "You're back together," she pointed out at first sight, not questioning the fact. There'd been the occasional display of closeness prior to her departure, but differentiating those times from this was the fact that he was not only viewing her with love, but like she was his whole world.

The couple exchanged glances as they contemplated the extent to which they would face an interrogation as to the nature of their reunion. Neither were exactly proud of it, and Alfie in particular was ashamed of how long it had taken him to come to his senses. Any normal person wouldn't have taken so long to face up to the past when it concerned the only person that they'd ever truly loved. They were probably safe from Ollie, but with Mo not having been around when it had all happened, would she take this opportunity to wheedle out the gossip?

"I'll make us some coffees," Ollie told the group. "Any sugars?"

"None for me, two for Alfie and a half for Stace," Kat reeled off her family's preferences. "Just get Nan the same as one of us, she'll have anything that someone else has!" Ollie smiled at the witty comment, turning away and taking his leave.

Mo sat with a resentful look covering her face, and Jean was confused. "You take three sugars Kat..."

Alfie and Kat traded knowing glances, while Jean for the first time started to fear that her opinions might be shrugged off. Surely they wouldn't have driven all the way to Brighton with such an objective, she considered, trying to think positively; a unique challenge for her.

"We've got a bit of a surprise," Kat revealed vaguely, clinging to Alfie's hand.

"It was that alright," he said.

Jean studied both for a few moments, but was unable to decipher their ambiguous hints. Undeterred, her eyes diverged to her daughter in the hope of a clue. Like her cousin, Stacey was giving nothing away. With no alternative, she impatiently waited; it was a first, Mo not spreading the gossip.

Climbing to her feet, Kat stood so that she directly faced Jean. She grasped one end of the belt on her coat, but before pulling it, glanced again to her husband, wanting and needing him to let her know that he was okay with this. Her pregnancy was public knowledge in Walford of course, but because of not-so-distant events, Kat needed his approval in everything that she did. She had no desire to do anything in a way he could consider to be too showy, dramatic or devious ever again. Finally, the mother-to-be gently tugged the end of the belt, allowing the coat to fall open, revealing her only slightly expanded yet indisputably pregnant stomach.

As the sight in front of her eyes sank in, Jean's palms immediately shot to her mouth, much as Alfie's had done when the news of the pregnancy had dawned upon him. One or two delighted tears escaped and she giggled happily. "Congratulations!" she told Kat and Alfie excitedly, moving in to embrace the two in turn.

Letting a happy family scene go by undisturbed and uninterrupted had never been Mo's forte, and she could be seen rolling her eyes at the picture ahead of her. "Never has been one to do things normally this one," she opined, indicating Kat with a nod of the head. "She wrapped the positive test up as a Christmas present and now she can't even tell you straight. I didn't realise the words 'I'm pregnant' were so difficult."

"It's sweet Mo," Jean declared, half way to the door. She ducked out into the hallway, heading animatedly in the direction of the kitchen.

The view was met with a disgruntled huff from the senior citizen among the group. Not having had a man in her life for some years now, the concept of romance had been somewhat lost in translation.

"Jean's just told me the good news. Congratulations," Ollie addressed Kat and Alfie as he approached them with their coffees. Jean meanwhile handed steaming mugs to Stacey and Mo in turn, "And what can I get for Little Miss Lily?" she questioned.

"Milkshake," the little girl grinned cheekily.

Tommy wriggled down off of his father's lap at this juncture, calling, "Chocolate," in an excited manner and stumbling to his godmother's side.

"Chocolate milkshake?" Jean repeated to the three-year-old, who smiled. "Do you want to come with me and see what we've got?"

Tommy nodded enthusiastically at this offer and toddled off to the kitchen with Jean. "Lily will be fine with any flavour Mum, just as long as it's milkshake powder," added Stacey, making her way out to help. "She'll end up looking like a milkshake that one."

* * *

Now sitting with her granddaughter on her lap, Jean had convinced her guests that the time was right for a 'little gossip.' Straight onto her favourite subject of Kat and Alfie's relationship; as far as Mo was concerned, she might as well have told them to line up for a grilling.

"So, how long have you two been back together?"

Exchanging looks with his wife, Alfie disclosed, "Since the end of November."

Jean seemed almost disappointed with this particular piece of information, eyeing the couple curiously. "Really? But you're showing?"

"That's the other part of the surprise. We're having twins Jean."

The room was silent for a moment as Jean took on board the latest news. "You look like a goldfish Mum!" Stacey quipped, rousing Jean from her trace like state.

"That's fantastic news! We've never had twins in the family before!" she stammered, clapping happily.

"It's bloody brilliant Jean. Only happened on Barbie Mitchell's wedding night," amended Mo gleefully.

Putting two and two together, Stacey launched into questioning Alfie. "You married Roxy?" The fact that Ronnie had kidnapped Tommy was about the only update she'd managed to get over the last three years.

"Stupidly, yes," he reluctantly admitted.

"I told them they'd never work out," Stacey heard from a proud-as-punch Jean. Her mother's boldness was a source of some amusement; saying something like that to Alfie was one thing, but Roxy entirely another. "How did that happen?" she pressed her cousin's; she assumed; partner.

Kat was quick to interrupt with as much of an answer to this as she was comfortable sharing in front of two three year olds and Ollie, who remained a relative stranger. "Don't ask," she insisted. "It's in the past, we're together and we're holding onto each other with both hands. We can't go splitting up again with three kids in tow."

"Couldn't have put it better myself darlin'," Alfie agreed.

Though they had always been closer to Lynne than Kat through Stacey's childhood, Jean knew it to be unwise in the extreme not to heed Kat's advice. She hadn't done much for her daughter in her life, but she was adamant that she would be there to protect her from herself. She had never been one to let a potentially juicy piece of gossip slip away. "What else is happening in Walford then?" she found herself quickly changing the subject.

As she began rattling off developments, Kat found herself surprised by how much had happened in just five short months, not even that. "We're back living at Number 23 with Nan; Phil kicked us out and sold the Vic for revenge when we got back together, Shirley's brother turned up with his family and bought the place; Ian's engaged to Denise, Phil's back with Sharon, Bianca's got a new bloke, Lister's no more; new market inspector and Michael was murdered…"

"By Janine," came Alfie's grumbled elaboration.

Circumstances disclosed, the list went on. "…Alice is banged up; Janine framed her; Max got back with Kirsty then chucked her out for good, Lauren had an affair with that bloke from her alcoholic counselling; Kim's gone a bit AWOL and Joey's left. I think that's about everything."

"I might be able to get another stall after all then," Stacey observed, with her mother still taking in the revelations.

"Sorry to hear about Michael, Alfie," Jean eventually managed.

"Thanks Jean."

Kat supportively squeezed Alfie's hand, taking the initiative to divert the subject to something less likely to dig up painful memories for him. "You'll actually have to pay the rent on time this time Stace, the guy's a stickler for it. Dropped myself right in it the first day he showed up; thought he was a trader didn't I, told him he could expect an easy ride."

"You daft cow," Stacey couldn't help but giggle at the latest. "What fun," she rolled her eyes. "Who's Kirsty?"

"Max's secret wife. He was about to commit bigamy by remarrying Tanya you know," Kat revealed, hoping that those relatives in the know weren't about to enlighten the oblivious few as to how she knew that, announcing her most embarrassing mistake of all in the process.

"Sounds like Max. Have his cake and eat it," reasoned Stacey.

"This Kirsty bird also fakes pregnancy tests with biros. Good job she's gone Kat, she'd probably start asking to borrow your scan picture," remarked a comedic Alfie.

"Ooh! A picture! Can we see?" Jean requested happily.

Finding the request reasonable, Kat dug into her handbag on a quest to locate her purse, in which she had stored a copy of the photo. "It isn't very clear mind, it was over a month ago now. The next scan's next week," she explained, carefully passing the image of their babies to Jean.

"You know what Kat's like Jean, impatient. So eager was she to see the baby as we thought then, she fell off a chair."

For the first time since their argument that morning, Kat shot a glare in the direction of her husband. "Don't," she warned. "It might be funny to you now but it was the worst feeling ever, thinking that I'd killed our baby."

Leaving the parents-to-be to overcome their minor difference of opinion, Jean passed the photo onto her daughter without speaking a word. Once the polaroid sized image had made it past Ollie and back to Kat, she then broke the silence. "So, Mo," she started, addressing her directly for the first time that day. "Looking forward to being a great grandmother again?"

Ever one for denial when it came to the subject of her age, the pensioner sharply protested, "I'm not a great-grandmother. I'm a grandmother and I'm great!"

In response to the unique claim, Alfie narrowed his eyes to Kat, implying that her mental age wasn't one of a grandmother, great or otherwise.

"Will you stay for tea?" offered Ollie, sensing how happy the reunion had made his partner. "It won't be anything special, but I'm sure I can rustle something up." Being a former police officer, he would be forever cautious when it came to the business of not exaggerating, or creating a false promise. He hadn't been the most encouraging of potential suitors when he'd learned of her condition, but what the previous months had taught him was that he could take care of Jean.

Their visitors seemed to silently confer on this point, before Kat told him, "We'd love to."

* * *

"Food is served," declared Ollie, interrupting the conversation as he carried the first of the plates into the room and set them down on the table.

"I'll give you a hand," Alfie announced, following the older man out to the kitchen, while the remainder of the family converged on the small table in the middle of the room.

"Sorry it's a bit cozy," Ollie told the sea of expectant faces as he and Alfie delivered the rest of the plates. "I'd have borrowed a table off the neighbours if I'd known you were coming."

"It doesn't matter, I've got my family all around me," Jean sighed contentedly. "What made you come all this way?" she asked, still taken aback by the day's events.

"Stacey turning up on our doorstep mainly. She wasn't so sure that you'd be alright what with your record with men so Alfie suggested she see for herself."

Turning his attention exclusively to Stacey, Ollie spoke up nervously. He knew that Stacey's approval would mean a lot to Jean. "I know you're protective of your mum, she's told me what you went through while you were growing up. I won't deny we had a rocky start but I'll always be here for her now; you, Lily and your brother too."

Alfie had to admire the bloke; Stacey was similar to his wife in many ways, one of those being that she was never backwards in coming forwards, especially if she felt that her family were under threat.

"I know," admitted Stacey. "I saw it the moment I walked in here. I can't remember ever seeing her so happy. But if you hurt her, you'll wish you'd never been born; me and her will see to that," she spoke warningly, signalling Kat.

"This is nice, better than Nan's," Kat announced as the table continued tucking into their helpings of Ollie's Shepherd's pie.

"That doesn't say much, that just means it's edible," joked Alfie.

"Oi!"

"I wouldn't worry about this lot, you'll get used to them," Stacey assured Ollie, still amused by the antics.

Alfie swallowed his mouthful, before engaging Jean in conversation. "So how's Brighton then Jean?"

"Lovely garden, better weather, Brighton's great. The only way it could be any better would be if you were all here." In a way, the continued absence of the family reminded her of losing Brian, in the sense that she was left with one person. It had been Stacey, now it was Ollie.

* * *

"Can I get anyone anything for desert, or a coffee perhaps?" Ollie offered, gathering up the empty plates.

"Just a glass of water if I can," requested Kat. "I'm trying to minimise my weight gain."

"You don't need to, you're gorgeous."

"Alfie I was as fat as a house by the time I was six months gone with Tommy, I dread to think what I'll look like come summer with these two."

"I'll love you whatever happens, you know that."

His words brought a smile to her face, but it wasn't in Kat's nature to back down and admit defeat. "Humour me."

"I'll have a coffee, we'd best make it a quick one though as we should be hitting the road. Tommy has nursery in the morning," Alfie told Ollie.

"I'm sure the kids can manage some ice cream," Jean eyed Kat and Stacey hopefully. It was hard to say that she was genuinely interested in giving Lily and Tommy a treat, when it was so obvious that she was holding on to every last second that she could possibly spend with them.

"I'll get it," decided Alfie, sensing that Jean needed a moment. "You can help," he told Mo sternly. Ollie would be of more comfort to Jean than she would.

"I am a pensioner you know!" she objected, as she was dragged, albeit not roughly; from the room by her grandson-in-law.

"Jean," Ollie took her hands in his as Alfie and Mo disappeared from view. "Do you want to move back to London? You don't have to worry, I'll move with you," he offered, concerned. It wasn't that he would do anything to avoid the effects of her bi-polar, but he was worried for her sake as to the effect that the separation could have. It couldn't be pleasant for her to subsequently realise just how unstable she had got. It had been one thing leaving Kat, Alfie and Mo, but it would be entirely another leaving her more immediate family, now that it seemed feasible for her to maintain contact with them.

For Jean, the decision was an easier one than Kat in particular would have imagined it to be. While her experiencing hostility from some of Walford's residents had been a rare occurrence, it didn't take away from the looks, the hushed conversations of which she had been a victim. Back in London, everyone seemed to know everything about everyone else; Brighton couldn't be more different, it was a welcome relief. "No, I like being normal. I would like to go for a visit occasionally though, stay over for a week or something. If that's ok?" Jean asked, growing nervous. It was still new for her, having someone who would go to any lengths to ensure her happiness, and like Kat, she had convinced herself that she wasn't worthy of it.

"Of course it's ok," Ollie confirmed at once. "You just tell me when and I'll drive you. I can stay with you if you want, or come back here and collect you later. It's not a problem."

"I'd like to go up to London for the birth," she revealed, looking from Ollie to Kat, as if asking permission. "I was in hospital when Tommy was born," she told her partner without giving any further details. Though the twins would fill a void in Kat's life, the void of never having raised a child from day one, the pain would never go away and needed no attention drawing to it.

"No one but Alfie is going within ten feet of that delivery room but we'd love you to be one of the first to meet them."

* * *

Alfie soon returned with their drinks, Mo having been more of a hindrance than a help.

"Cheers darlin'," Kat thanked Alfie as he handed her her water. "We were just saying that Jean could come down for the birth, meet the twins and that."

"It wouldn't be the same without her. She's our biggest fan isn't she."

While the group waited for Lily and Tommy to finish with their deserts, Jean set about saying her goodbyes. "Good to see you again Mo," she hugged the ageing criminal, starting with the least painful goodbye first.

When Mo reciprocated, Jean pulled away and knelt by Tommy's chair, who had just discarded his spoon. "Bye Tommy, you be a good boy for your Mummy and Daddy and take care of your little sisters won't you?" she hugged him gently.

"Bye," Tommy responded with a wave, oblivious to the fact that no one was actually leaving quite yet. Kat and Alfie meanwhile looked to each other confusedly, before facing Jean once again.

"We don't know whether they're boys or girls yet Jean," clarified Kat. Had she not been certain to the contrary, she would have asked if she was up to date with her medication.

"I know that Kat, ultrasounds haven't improved quite that much since the eighties," remarked Jean. "They're bound to be aren't they, with both Tommy and Freddie in the last ten years; the Slaters won't be seeing any more little boys for a long while. You're all girls in this family after all."

"We have a prediction," announced Alfie, amused by Jean's apparently psychic manner. She reminded him a lot of his Nana in that respect.

Kat picked Tommy up from his chair, prompting Ollie to fetch his coat and hand it to her. "Jean might be right you know," she then turned to her husband. "She said we'd get back together and we did."

"Nah, the Moons are all boys. Eddie's girl Francesca and Scarlett broke the trend, no more girls for years now."

"We don't mind what they are do we, just as long as they're healthy?"

"We don't mind at all," Alfie confirmed, ruffling Kat's hair and helping her to put on Tommy's coat.

Jean had now moved her attention to Alfie. "See you soon then," she said, slightly uncertainly.

"Of course you will, come here you," he told her, bringing her in for a hug. "Group hug," he suddenly decided, beckoning Kat to join. She giggled, placed Tommy on the floor for a moment and obliged.

"Bye Kat," Jean spoke weakly as Alfie pulled away, the tears beginning to come now, for both Jean and Kat. It was as if she were leaving town all over again.

Scooping her granddaughter up into her arms, Jean made for the door, where Alfie, Tommy, Ollie and Mo were already headed.

"We'll get Lily strapped in if you want, give you two a chance to say your goodbyes," offered Kat, referring of course to Jean and Stacey. Nodding, Jean said a final goodbye to the little girl and reluctantly handed her to Alfie, who proceeded to carry her to the car as Kat led Tommy in the same direction.

"Bye Mum," Stacey choked out as she embraced her mother. "Lily and I will come to stay, alright?" she tried to cheer her up, knowing that Jean would take the parting harder than she herself would.

"You do that, we've got a spare room," Jean added, as Stacey kissed her cheek and sloped off to the car, their hands still clinging to each others until finally, Stacey was too far away. "And Stacey," she called after her daughter. "Call us if you need anything; I wasn't much good as a mother when you were growing up but I can be now."

Stacey let out a sob at these words, nodding in agreement as she ducked her head down and disappeared into the car. She wanted to tell Jean that it wasn't true, but the sad fact was that both knew that wasn't the case. It had been necessary for Jean to sort herself out before she could attempt to sort out anyone else.

Ollie could do nothing but try his best to confront Jean as the pair watched the people carrier pull out, and then disappear from view, with no concrete idea as to when they would see them all again. That was the thing about surprises. Surprises were good, but they always seemed to produce the most awful state of limbo when they were over, before you were finally able adjust back to your own life. It was the curse of surprises, and after more than ten years, Kat and Alfie had broken that mould, with their little miracles and no bad stuff left lingering.


	7. Alfie's 50th

**Alfie's 50th, because them being on bad terms on the actual day sucked :(**

"Alfie?" Kat called out as she made her way toward the kitchen. She could make out the frame of her husband sitting at the table, head buried in his hands. Following their heart to heart in the first year of their marriage, she had been left with no doubt that he had formerly hated birthdays, but she honestly thought that she'd helped to change that. Age was just a number and the eye-opener had come when she'd challenged him as to what age he wished he could stay. He'd replied eighteen. Kat had then asked him whether he'd been truly happy at that point in his life, and of course the answer was no. He'd been living for the moment, plodding along until the next piece of excitement came. He'd had some fun as all young people do, but it was never a life that he desired for the long term. There was simply not enough of a purpose in it. Surely he'd rather the life that they had and die happy in thirty years, less even; than to live forever never finding his place in life?

As Kat drew closer to him, she cursed the as yet unknown senders of the various cards which lay abandoned, emblazoned with either the word fifty or the figures 50. Both meant exactly the same, and both she'd specifically warned friends and family to avoid. To the best of her knowledge, Alfie wasn't nearly as anti-birthdays as he had once been, but he was never going to turn into the world's greatest fan of them, itching to show off his latest milestone to all and sundry. Some years he'd seemed to look forward to the event, in hindsight probably due to the promise of sexy lingerie and various other inducements. She was currently feeling not dissimilar to a baby hippo, so the offer of another birthday spent confined to the bedroom likely wouldn't have had the same effect.

"Ignore them," she pleaded with her husband, gathering up the offending articles and tucking them behind the bread bin, out of immediate sight. "They're overpriced, folded pieces of card with a few words and foil numbers stuck onto them."

"It's not just them," Alfie said, almost despondently.

Having discarded the evidence of the occasion, Kat sat down next to her husband and immediately took his hands in hers. "What is it then?"

Hesitating, Alfie shook his head slightly, as if admitting that there wasn't one specific problem. "Roxy for a start. 'Only ten years to go until you get your bus pass,'" he quoted her unflattering comment.

"What year's she living in? She's having a laugh."

Unsure as to whether her intention had been primarily to cheer him up or to insult Roxy following Ronnie's hand in their eviction from the Vic, Alfie frowned. Irrespective of the truth in Kat's statement and the associated inaccuracy of Roxy's comment, it didn't alter the fact that old age was creeping up on him; not so slowly any longer, it seemed.

"Alfie?"

"I'm too old Kat."

"How do you mean?" Kat eyed her husband curiously. They'd encountered many issues throughout their marriage, but the age gap had never been one of them. True she'd jumped into the relationship without knowing his age and hadn't even bothered to look at it on the marriage certificate, but she'd been with enough of the wrong sort in her time that age was the last thing she was concerned about. With all of her baggage, there were never going to be queues of men willing to take her on, not for more than a quick fumble. And certainly not kind, genuine, considerate men like him.

"Men my age are usually looking forward to their retirement and becoming a grandparent, not having twins."

Tears immediately began to form in Kat's eyes. She didn't like where this seemed to be heading. She didn't like it at all. "What are you saying? You don't want them?"

"Kat, of course I'm not. I want them more than anything, you know that. Our family," he quickly reassured her, shuffling his chair closer to her and taking her in his arms.

Pulling away, Kat looked him square in the face. "Good, it's a bit late to be backing out on me now."

"Never," he smiled back at her. "I just meant what if I'm too old and tired to do all the things that a dad's supposed to? Playing football, teaching them to swim and ride a bike."

"You won't be," she quickly attempted to reassure her husband. "You'll probably lose the dad's race at father's day, but who cares? There are kids out there with parents that don't even want them, or with mothers like mine willing to throw their kids under a bus just to take the easy way out, because something happened which didn't fit into her picture of the perfect family life." So deep seated was her resentment of Viv that it had emerged without her intending to reference it. She had only been meaning to make a point, not to turn it increasingly personal. It was a figure of speech of course, but true. Kat didn't like the idea of having to explain to Tommy, Bert and Ernie that she'd been abused in the worst possible way; she wished they didn't have to know that such evil existed in the world, but they needed to know that they could always talk to her or their father, whatever happened. It was something they'd agreed upon long ago, back in the early days of trying for a baby, lying in each other's arms afterwards and hoping that that was the day that they got lucky.

"I guess you're right," muttered Alfie.

"I know I am. This is me you're talking to, I know better than most that age is just a number when it comes to being a parent. Everyone told me I was too young to be Zoe's mum but I wasn't. I didn't have the money to feed or clothe her but that was all I couldn't do. I took her to the park whenever I could get away with it, I got up early to dress her, I bathed her whenever mum and dad spent the evening arguing and I fed her while my mum tried to get one of Little Mo's toys back off of Belinda. It just screwed me up more when they all said that I couldn't do any of those things. If I couldn't comfort her as well as my parents could it was only because they froze me out," Kat reflected sadly. "You deserve this more than anyone and if anyone says anything, they'll have me to deal with," she finally warned.

"You mean it?"

"Of course. No one is going to ruin this for you. Nature steps in when someone's too old to have a baby. You've got another ten years at least. If any of us should be the subject of age related gossip, it'll be me."

"Really?"

Kat nodded. "Even these days early forties is about the limit. When I missed my period I seriously thought it was the start of the menopause; I didn't think we'd be this lucky, not after all the years we got nowhere."

"Tell me about it. When she said it was twins, I thought I was hallucinating."

"So did I!" Kat agreed.

"I thought you were just scared."

"I was never scared. For half an hour maybe about the birth, but that was it. I realised there's no point in trying to second guess how it'll be because no two births are the same. It might be easier than with Tommy because twins are smaller, or it might be the most uncomfortable hours of my life. It won't matter when we're holding them in our arms, it's not like I'm gonna be doing this again."

"I'll be there with you all the way, I promise. I was a git last time, cracking jokes with Mo and your old man."

"I know you will. That's why I'm not afraid of it. I always told myself I'd never have more kids than I could cope with by myself. Two I think I could handle, but three … I know I couldn't do it. But I don't need to be able to because I know you won't abandon ship and leave me holding them."

"I'd have to be dragged away kicking and screaming. Sometimes I think I'll end up being too overprotective of these babies. I love them so much without even meeting them."

"It's normal, trust me. I felt it, even with Zoe. If I can feel that way after everything that happened, it's only natural for you to feel it too. I know this is what you've always wanted."

"Not a very bloke thing to do though is it?"

"You're not like any other bloke though, thank god. You know me; wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them. You're the only person I've trusted completely since I was thirteen. I couldn't even trust Nan or Dad properly after what happened, there was just something in my head that said that even family were bound to let you down when things got tough."

Alfie could feel his eyes begin to well up as it finally dawned upon him just how much of a risk Kat had taken in letting down her defences and allowing him into her life. It made him fall even further in love with her; and long ago he'd passed the point at which he'd believed he couldn't love her any more than he already did, even if he really tried.

"You should've seen the people I was friends with before I moved here. The things their blokes did, it was typical man stuff but horrific. They either disliked blood and refused full stop to go to the birth, or they were propping up bar stools until the poor cows were fully dilated, then they rolled up for the main event!"

"People do that?" He was slightly squeamish himself, but nothing in the world would keep him away. That didn't mean to say that such a graphic account wasn't over the top at breakfast time in particular, because it was. There had been several incidences over the past months of various male acquaintances telling him that he didn't know what he was letting himself in for. More than ever, especially armed with this latest information, he was convinced that they were the ones that hadn't known what was expected of them as a father and as a decent human being. Maybe his view was a little extreme, but was it not natural with his and Kat's combined histories? Everyone had something that they were passionate about; charity, art or climate change perhaps; it just so happened that his passion was in matters closer to the heart. He had long since resolved only to give serious consideration to advice originating from Ian. Not only was he a friend of some years, but he had been through much the same experiences, with Steven and then with his own set of twins. It was possible that others had only one objective in life, finding parts of other people's lives to entertain themselves with. Alfie Moon would waste his time on idle chit chat and unfounded opinions no longer.

"Oh yeah. From what I saw of it, they had the kids to keep their girlfriends happy, or because they wanted them to fulfil some fantasy of kicking a football around in the park. I hardly saw the poor cows once they had kids because they were left to do it all. I ain't always had no friends, you know. This is why it doesn't matter to me what age you are or whether you're prone to pulling the odd scam. With you everything is for the right reasons. You're the only man I would carry twins for. Bringing up twins would be tough at any age; you'll be fine, you'll be amazing."

"Sorry."

"What for?"

"Getting all doubting Thomas on you."

"You hardly did that. I didn't catch you packing your bags."

"Bet you never thought you'd be spending my birthday having to pick me up like this."

"It doesn't matter. You lean on me, I lean on you." Kat smiled encouragingly at her husband. "I'm the sorry one. I promise you, my past isn't going to take over again, I won't let it. I love this life too bloody much to throw it all away again; you, Tommy and these babies are everything to me."

"And you are to me. Forever?"

"Forever."

"Ey ey, you're getting a bit excited aren't you?" Kat remarked, in response to Alfie suddenly grabbing her and holding onto her so tightly that she wondered whether she might lose circulation in her arms. "I'm not about to be abducted by aliens you know," she joked.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You didn't hurt me, you couldn't. I'm pregnant, not a porcelain doll."

"You are to me."

Kat smiled happily at his comment. "It's meant to be your birthday, not mine," she told him. It should've been her paying the compliments. "On that note, I've got something for you."

"You didn't have to get me anything. These babies are enough for the next twenty birthdays and Christmases," Alfie grinned. It seemed he'd barely stopped smiling since they'd found out about the twins, except for the obvious like the whole statement saga and Nicole rocking up. Having a baby of his very own with the woman he loved more than life itself was a massive deal for him, but there was something about it being twins that made it all the more special.

"It's not much, what with us needing to economise and all that."

"You hid it in the fridge?"

"You were never going to look in there, were you?" It was a rhetorical question. It wasn't as if even Alfie Moon would dare argue with eight years of tradition. "I always cook breakfast on your birthday."

"I can do it, just this year mind," he offered.

"I can cook eggs, I just can't eat them."

Alfie nodded, gratefully accepting the small cube shaped gift from her. Kat was a scary woman when riled. If Kat was happy to take care of the breakfast, the routine would continue without hiatus. She returned to her seat at his side as Alfie tore into the thin layer of wrapping. Soon he had taken in the item that was revealed to him and made his opinion known.

"I've got to say Mrs Moon, I am loving your presents lately. The babies for Christmas, now this," he beamed. "I wouldn't mind a birthday more often."

"Really?" Kat hadn't really known what he would make of it, but rather had been confident that he wouldn't want her making any extravagant purchases, like tickets for him and Tommy to go to a West Ham game. That she was sure he would love, but it was all about the bigger picture; making sacrifices now so that they had enough money to give their babies the best start in life.

"Really. It just goes to show that it doesn't matter how much or how little you spend on someone, it's the thought that goes into it that makes a present." Having studied the gift delightedly once more, Alfie proceeded to wield it in her direction.

"Oi you, don't be getting too cheeky. I said I'd make the breakfast, I didn't mean I'd be making you cups of tea on request," Kat responded playfully.

Alfie stared back at his wife with a guilty expression. "A cup of tea in my lovely new mug with my breakfast will be brilliant."

The sound of Kat's infectious giggle filled the room as Alfie continued to look on remorsefully. The last thing he had ever wanted was for her to feel that he was taking her for granted. That was when the rot set in and everything had broken down. He was determined for them not to revisit such an unhappy place. He knew her better than anyone else and that was why it fell to him to make her truly happy. He could cope with her past and the occasional nightmares that came with it; the fact that she had survived such harrowing events meant she had spirit and it was this spirit and character which made her so addictive to him. In turn, the fact that he could accept what had happened to her rather than burying it under the carpet meant that she didn't need to pretend to be someone that she wasn't; she could speak about it when she needed, instead of suffering in silence as she had done for the first eighteen years afterwards.

"I was joking, you great plonker!" She reassured her husband, her amusement at his expression finally subsiding. "It's your birthday, you can have anything you want," she added, while switching on the kettle.

At this, Alfie chuckled briefly at the way in which she had managed to fool him again. Life with Kat always threw up surprises, even if it was just little things like that. That was why they worked as a couple. It was no secret that he'd simply grown bored of his first marriage, turning instead to various scams.

"I thought I'd have to prize that West Ham mug out of your cold dead hands," Kat added, in reference to the now effectively redundant item of crockery, which had been replaced with something far more personal. Her gift to him had been a photo mug, with his favourite photo of Kat and Tommy printed onto one side and the latest scan picture of the twins on the other.

"No way," muttered Alfie. "You're so much more important to me than a football team. You four are all I've got." It was fair to say that Alfie and Spencer had grown apart over the years apart, with Spencer determined to build his own life for himself half way across the world. Like Kat and her sisters, contact between them hadn't been nearly as frequent as it should have been.

Kat was suddenly reminded of how glad she was that she'd taken to wearing waterproof mascara as a matter of course. "We're not going anywhere. I know we've said it more than once before but this really is forever now," she exclaimed, stepping closer to him, taking his hand and placing it gently on her expanding stomach. "We need you as much as you need us."

"I can't feel anything." Alfie looked on sadly, as if believing that he would always miss the moment.

Squeezing his hand in an attempt to raise his spirits, Kat simultaneously cursed herself for leading him to believe that there had been something to feel. "I felt a flutter early this morning but there's nothing you can feel just yet. The second they kick, I'll tell you."

Alfie nodded; he'd been reassured but still longed to feel their twins kick. His disappointment must have remained evident, as Kat spoke up again. "Hey, it won't be long, a couple of weeks and you'll be able to feel them. Then in a few months time they'll be so active you'll be sick of feeling it," she finished light-heartedly.

"Never. I love it all, even the little things like cutting up Tommy's food for him. I just... it doesn't seem real sometimes. I have to pinch myself," he admitted.

"I look like I've swallowed one of those space hopper things. It's real alright."

Seeing the tears forming in her husband's eyes, Kat rejoined him at the table, placing her hand on his back. "Hey, you're not supposed to cry on your birthday." Why was that? Was it unlucky? Had it originated as a method through which to cheer up the person whose birthday it was? Or was it more everyone else's way of trying to avoid misery? Kat simply recalled her father having used the line on her once.

"Sorry," muttered Alfie, trying rather unsuccessfully to stop his own tears with his thumb.

Kat took out a tissue, quickly drying Alfie's tears for him. "You don't have to be sorry for anything. Never, do you hear me?" She wasn't going to dwell on her failings if she could help it; what kind of birthday would he have if they went back there?

"I'm crying because I'm so happy," he told her.

She nodded, understanding that completely. She'd lost count of the times that she'd cried such tears of late. She'd cried them in the past too; her wedding day, when he'd come back for her and they'd left for America; but always knowing that something was missing, their children. Now the complete picture was bringing on the same, especially with her hormones. "I know," she whispered as she held him tight, kissing his hair as she waited for the moment to pass.

"So, what do you want to do today? Anything you like?"

"Anything?" He eyed her cheekily.

"Within reason. I'm not going on any country walks in my condition and I'm not going to any fish and chip bars because it'll probably make me puke; that's not because of Ian's cooking!"

Alfie laughed, loving the way she had again succeeded in turning an apparently mundane conversation into a joke. Nothing that involved Kat would ever be mundane, and he would never tire of her sense of humour.

"Scrap the breakfast, I've got a better idea," announced Alfie, tugging Kat's arm and pulling her out of her chair. "How about we go back to bed for a few hours, then we can pick Tommy up together and find a nice country pub somewhere for a bite to eat?"

"Let me have some toast first, I'm eating for three here you know," Kat objected, without exception to the other elements of his plan.

Alfie hurriedly made his way to the bread bin, removing three slices of bread and immediately throwing them into the toaster. It seemed he had taken the eating for three part literally, allocating one slice of toast per person. That fact accompanied by Alfie's general urge to usher her upstairs caused Kat to giggle to herself as she watched on. She couldn't remember either of them being happier than they were at that moment, awaiting the time that their longed for family would be complete and in honour of Alfie's birthday, not thinking about work or bills.


	8. March 2014

**I've always thought Kat and Alfie should have had a reaction to Ronnie and Roxy moving in two doors down from them. I wrote this when I heard that they were buying the house. Stacey was yet to hand herself into the police at this point.**

Kat and Alfie were heading home from a six hour jaunt around various baby stores when they happened to encounter Billy strolling in the direction of Number 27. Normally he'd have nagged at her to take things easy until she caved in out of sheer annoyance at his continued protests, but with Kat now showing and a scan photo on their mantelpiece that showed twins even to the untrained eye, it was difficult for Alfie to keep his excitement in check; this was the culmination of ten years of wanting, hoping and wishing.

As much as both would much sooner spend every waking second thinking of and working for their family, Billy Mitchell heading in that direction seemed just too much of a coincidence to ignore. His stance looked so defiant, so set on an objective as yet unknown to the couple that it didn't seem possible for them to have been mistaken, irrespective of the fact that he wasn't exactly walking around with a sign that declared to the world, 'I'm going into Janine's.' While it was true that he could use the bigger house, seeing more of Janet and William of late and having Lola, Lexi and Peter under his roof; clearly a certain commodity would put a spanner in that plan, an obstacle in his way. It was the same one which had led them down the 'charity' route as Alfie had termed it, and to move in with Mo; money, or rather the lack of it. Courtesy of Ian, the pair were aware that Janine was on a selling spree in the name of her legal fees, but even at a knocked down price, it would be too much for him to afford. Peter and Lola were hardly in a position to contribute.

"Billy," Alfie called across to him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm carrying a box."

It was a deja-vu moment for Kat, who was taken back to one of their hardest weeks, excepting the obvious such as the aftermath of Tommy's 'death' and the Andy saga. Losing the Vic hadn't really hit her as such, only in the sense that she'd had to witness Alfie worrying himself silly about how he would continue to support her and Tommy, all the while knowing that she was pregnant. "Are you a stuck record or what?!" Kat reeled at his response, spurred on by the memories. It was fairly obvious to anyone with half a brain cell that if someone asked you a question like that, they didn't mean it in a literal sense; the interest was in the why. It was entirely possible that such a condition ruled Billy out, but they had to live in hope. "And don't try telling me that you're an Executive Director of Operations, you're an Executive Director of naff all! Always have been, always will be."

"I'll have you know I was an integral part of the business at Butcher's Joints," he protested, with Kat cornering him before he could walk up the path to the house.

Kat scoffed. "Don't give me that." She wasn't an educated individual, but it was fairly widely known that operations included such things as procurement of goods. "You ordered the stationery; this Executive Director thing was just Janine's way of keeping you sweet," she accused.

A staring contest seemed to ensue, through which Billy remained silent. After what felt like five minutes, Kat was bored. "I'm tired," she announced, caressing her bump gently. "I'm going to go and have a sit down and you can tell Alfie what you're doing here. If you don't you'll probably find that you're eating that box for breakfast tomorrow!"

The change in Kat's attitude took Alfie by surprise to say the least. It wasn't the threats that bothered him, for he could see them as preparation to defend Tommy and their twins; if she was this fierce with Billy, an almost friend, anyone who dared to cross their family would do so at their peril. As much as he'd spent the last three months urging Kat to take it easy, he hadn't seriously expected her to heed the warning, but he was glad that she had. "You go up to bed and lie down, I'll bring you up a coffee in a minute," Alfie offered, hoping that would be as long as Billy would take to fess up. He couldn't fathom the failure of other men to go out of their way to make things as easy as possible for their wives or girlfriends, when they would be subjecting themselves to the most unimaginable pain in the name of family.

* * *

Minutes later, Alfie wandered into the kitchen, far from his usual self. "Alfie?" Kat eyed him concernedly; he looked as if he'd just seen a ghost. Billy Mitchell suffered from delusions of grandeur, he wasn't important enough to have that effect on her husband, whatever he was up to.

Kat had taken a pew at the kitchen table, having decided that a lie down at this hour at this stage of the pregnancy was too much like being wrapped up in cotton wool. She wanted to be with Alfie, they'd wanted this for too long for him to miss out on another second.

Rather than preparing the coffee that he'd offered earlier, Alfie immediately pulled Kat into his arms, clinging to her like a child would its mother. "What's he said to you?" "Tell me," she pressed him as he clung to her even more tightly. Still revealing nothing, he slipped one hand from the small of her back around to her stomach, as if fearing that both Kat and their babies would be ripped away from him if he neglected to hold onto them in the physical sense.

"Alfie, whatever poison he's come out with, just ignore him. He's a Mitchell, Phil's probably sitting over the road right now fashioning more strings to pull. You're the best husband and the best dad, you won't lose me and you won't lose them," announced Kat confidently, in the hope that she could somehow transfer part of that confidence to him.

He wished that he could share her optimism. Together with the Australia business which he was still yet to confide in her about, the development of which he had just learned struck up a sense of fear within him. Except this time, there was nothing that Kat could do or say to alleviate the feeling; worse still was the fact that it was entirely possible that the news could utterly petrify his pregnant wife. In her condition, this was the last thing the pair needed, in more ways than one.

Despite her words of encouragement, Alfie remained preoccupied and hadn't loosened his grip on her a jot. She didn't mind in a sense, because he would never and could never hurt them. It was clear however that there was a somewhat pressing issue at play, which they would need to deal with together. She'd been wrong to believe that she could relieve Stacey of her predicament without his support, just like she would be to ever think that she could solve anything without him; like he was of the mistaken belief at that moment. "Whatever it is just let me in. We can deal with anything, you and me against the world remember?" she urged her husband.

Reluctantly peeling himself from her, Alfie quickly pulled up a chair and positioned it so that it was directly in front of Kat's. He took his seat and sighed heavily, fully aware that this wouldn't be as easily dealt with as both had previously deluded themselves to believe. Taking her hands in his across the gap in between them, he pecked one comfortingly, before squeezing them so tightly that Kat couldn't resist a joke to this effect.

"What's that for? I'm the one that's got to push them out!" Kat chuckled at her own comment.

Alfie suddenly looked behind him, muttering, "Tommy," and starting to get up from the chair.

Tugging gently on his arm as a means of convincing him to sit back down, Kat disclosed, "He's fine, he's upstairs playing with Stacey and Lily." It was well known by all who knew the couple that convincing as such didn't exist in Kat's vocabulary, it was more of a prompting that couldn't be ignored. That said, with Alfie, it was as far removed from an order as Kat would ever get. They were equals, he did all that he could to prevent her from being haunted by the remnants of her tragic past; telling her daily that she deserved the best, sleeping only after she had nodded off so she wouldn't be haunted by the memories in the dead of night with him snoring beside her; reassuring her that she was and would be the best mother, and by so doing, making up for his own hurtful comments to the contrary. In return, she fought his corner in any battles that they were sucked into, which more often than not happened to involve a Mitchell.

"Fugitives are useful for something then," remarked Alfie. He had forgiven her for making the statement; hell would freeze over before she would ever back down, and Kat meant infinitely more to him than Michael; that didn't mean that he had forgotten.

"Alfie," Kat sighed deeply. "I thought we'd agreed to disagree?" This was a can of worms to put it lightly, how could you agree to disagree in a situation when it was your cousin versus theirs? It had been bad enough when it was Michael against Jean, and as it had transpired then, Michael was in the wrong. It hadn't been his wisest decision, getting involved with Janine, but it didn't mean that he deserved to have his murderer walk free.

"I'm letting it go because I know I have to. I don't like it but I can accept it or choose not to accept it and lose you, Tommy, the babies; everything in the process. Michael's still dead either way. I made an off the wall comment; sorry," he admitted.

Nodding understandingly, Kat took Alfie's hands in hers as she spoke up again. "Don't be, you've got a point."

Her words almost prompted Alfie to do a double take. Kat admitted defeat about nothing, even when she was in the wrong. It was part of her charm. "How do you mean?" he enquired. Though it was a conversation about the statement, something she'd thus far refused to discuss with him, he wasn't anticipating an apology; progress had been made and that was enough for one day.

Kat paused as she considered how best to put this. "I know we said we wanted three kids, but I always told myself that if ever we were to have twins, we had to stop at the two or have four."

"How come?"

"You know what they say about the twin bond," explained Kat. "These two will be inseparable and that's the way it should be," she remarked, indicating her bump. "I just worry about Tommy you know, being the odd one out."

"Hey," Alfie spoke up caringly, willing her to come and sit on his lap. "You, here."

Giggling that infectious giggle he loved so much, Kat shook her head. "Alfie I'm putting on weight like there's no tomorrow."

"Don't care, come on," he encouraged.

Sighing in defeat, Kat got to her feet. "Don't say I didn't warn you," she stated, before sitting down as she had been instructed.

"Tommy won't be the odd one out, I won't treat them any different because… you know…" Alfie trailed off as he desperately attempted to reassure his wife. She didn't need this upset in her condition.

Kat instantly moved in for a kiss, silencing him. "I know you won't, if I thought you would I'd be out of the door," she warned. "I didn't mean it like that."

"How did you mean it then?" Alfie followed up, fiddling with strands of her hair.

"Tommy will be the odd one out in the sense that he's the only one that's not a twin. Zoe will see them as her siblings but it won't be the same as having a playmate around. With Lily around it could help Tommy; someone to play with while the twins are as thick as thieves."

"Right," muttered Alfie, clearly with his reservations as far as this point was concerned.

Kat frowned. "What have I said?" she questioned, though not thinking in the literal sense. Guilty as she had been of losing her head on a number of occasions in the past, she could recall her words exactly.

Sighing, Alfie spoke up. It was easy enough to say, but it wasn't going to be easy in practice. "It worries me a bit that's all, Tommy could grow up closer to Lily than his brothers or sisters and I don't think that's right. It was alright for me, I grew up close to Michael, Jake, Danny and Maxwell but I was an only child at the time," he attempted to explain.

"It's not ideal, granted, but what do you want us to do about it?" asked Kat, perhaps a little short with her husband. She had already alluded to the ideal solution, but they had to face up to the fact that it would never happen. "Number four isn't going to happen, I'll be almost 45 by the time these two are here and we've got the all clear. Besides, planning pregnancies has never worked for us, has it?" she reflected rhetorically.

He nodded sadly, knowing that they had been beyond lucky already. After the whole fertility struggle, they had been lucky in that Kat had conceived the once, even if it had resulted in a miscarriage. The fact that they were now expecting twins was nothing short of a miracle.

"I say we take steps to make sure that they have a strong bond with Tommy as well as with each other," Alfie's intention constituted the bare bones of an idea, but it would take an extended discussion to formulate it into a workable plan. It was at this point that Kat gasped, apparently panicked and seeming to have remembered the fact that they still had the ambiguity of Billy's actions to deal with.

"What did Billy say?" she questioned Alfie, changing the subject begrudgingly to less appealing matters, in the subconscious knowledge that she simply couldn't let it lie.

Alfie gulped. He hadn't intended to derail the conversation from the matter at hand, but he couldn't deny that he had been comforted if not pleased by the tangent that it had gone off on. Bringing her some relief in the wake of this was going to be a challenge, but if anything could do that, it would be the thought of the complete family that they would become in four months or so. Like so many things in Kat's life, there was however a catch; the fear for these precious lives that would undoubtedly stem from current events.

"Alfie?" Kat pursued him anxiously.

"Don't get mad, okay?" he asked, unable to explain why it was that he was bothering with such an introduction. Kat would never agree to anything without a full knowledge of what it was that she was agreeing to. "I'm sorting it out."

"Sorting out what?" He'd barely stopped for breath before Kat had switched to something of a biting heads off tone. The situation was not of his making, yet with her hormones, Alfie had an unsettling feeling that it would somehow turn out to be his fault. Maybe it was, in a way; had he not thrown the bust, they'd still be living in the Vic.

"Ronnie… Ronnie's buying Number 27," he managed in one breath, unable to keep the unwelcome news to himself any longer. They faced things head on now, and most importantly, they did so together.

"What?!" Kat expressed her disbelief at such a volume that Alfie could practically see her blood pressure rising.

Running his hands through his hair agitatedly, Alfie willed the powers above to give him something, anything that would calm her. "Kat, don't let her wind you up. It's not good for the babies, think of them."

She gave a forced chuckle, the type that meant no words were necessary to get across the fact that she was far removed from the point at which she would see his logic. "I am thinking of them, I'm thinking we can't bring twins into the world with our son's kidnapper two doors away!"

He should have known. Kat had always been one to have an original interpretation of things. "I know Kat, I'm on it. I've rung the police; I'm waiting for that Jo whatsherface to call back, the one that dealt with our case," Alfie explained. It was hardly the situation rectified, but it was progress, progress that he hoped would lessen her fear.

"Joanne Peters," Kat told him, surprising herself in as far as she had successfully managed to recall the name in the face of their current concerns.

"Yeah, her," confirmed Alfie. "We've done all that we can for the minute," he stated. "Let's go and sit down."

Kat allowed herself to be guided into the lounge by her husband and upon reaching the room, immediately made a dive for the seat furthest from the door. "Should be able to see her coming from here," she mused.

"Kat," Alfie found himself speaking up warningly. "She's not exactly going to try anything right now, is she? She'll be busy unpacking." "This plan," he muttered, changing the subject after a pause. "I reckon we need a routine where we both get time alone with each twin, they get time with Tommy without each other and we get the odd day for some us time," revealed Alfie, before looking her square in the face again as he awaited Kat's reaction to the suggestion.

"Sounds good, but that's going to require a lot of babysitting," she admitted sadly.

"We can't afford to be splashing out on babysitters; it's going to be hard enough as it is with two more to feed and clothe, especially if the market closes."

"Darlin', we'll be fine," protested Alfie. It had become something of a figure of speech with him, always needing to reassure her, but on this occasion, he firmly believed it to be true. He was Alfie Moon; falling on his feet where money was concerned came naturally. His lucky break would come soon. "We've got a spare room full of nappies and all of Tommy's old stuff." For once, Kat's past was actually something of a blessing, as opposed to a stick for her to beat herself with; a nagging voice in her head that she would never amount to anything, and something to haunt her in the dead of night. Her desperation for another chance to be a mother and to be afforded the opportunity to do it properly at last had led to her keeping not only Tommy's first babygrows and booties, but everything.

"We best hope they aren't girls then," Kat commented. She was always realistic when it came to her approach of the issues that they encountered in life, but she had become quite the pessimist following their eviction from the Vic. He knew how much she'd longed not only for her own family who would never turn their backs on her like several of her relatives had done in the past, but more specifically for the little girl that she'd missed out on. Now, here she was wishing for the opposite for the sake of something as trivial as money.

"I wasn't suggesting we hire a Nanny two days a week or anything like that," Alfie said, looking up at her. "How about every other Saturday for some us time? Your Nan will be fine to babysit once a fortnight surely, we cook for her enough," he proceeded to reason.

"We are living rent free in her house," Kat reminded her partner. "Unfortunately," she added as her eyes again focused on the window, which looked out onto the Square. He might have perceived no rent as charity, but she had no such issue with that fact; Mo had extracted enough out of other people in one way or another, including the ability to sublet the house for a year and a half thanks to Alfie allowing her to live with them at the Vic, followed by a further year courtesy of Charlie's generosity. She'd never met her mother-in-law of course, but Kat imagined that if one had finally managed to break free of said family member, you'd be in no rush to move them back in with you. That was what mother-in-laws were wasn't it; interfering busybodies? Big Mo was as interfering as they came. The issue with their current living arrangements was of course their new neighbours.

"Come on, you know she won't mind. You only have to think of the way she was at Christmas; I never thought I'd see the day that Mo Harris would need a tissue!" stated Alfie. The comment was light hearted, but in no way was it a joke. She'd been almost as delighted with the news as they had. "She loves Tommy and she'll love the twins too; it can't have been easy for her, single all these years and watching her granddaughters leave town one by one."

"Ok, you win," she finally relented, looking past the various practicalities.

Alfie grinned triumphantly. "Thank you," he managed, before moving in to peck her on the forehead lovingly. "I'll get it right this time," he promised. "I had you but I blew it by being work crazy and obsessed with football and time with the lads. Who cares if we have a bit less money in the bank, at least we'll be us."

"No you never, I blew it. I was a moody cow half of the time, I got annoyed over next to nothing and I took you for granted."

Not really knowing how to respond to that, Alfie quickly pulled Kat into his arms. "We both did things we shouldn't have; we've drawn a line under all that. Let's leave it at that, where it belongs; in the past," he looked up at her pleadingly, imploring her to agree.

"Done." Kat couldn't have been more pleased at the prospect of forgetting all about her prior indiscretions. "So, how's this grand plan of yours going to work out with Nan babysitting once a fortnight?" she challenged him. Kat had always had quite an imagination, but even she couldn't see that one.

With an expression that said 'I've got the answer to everything,' Alfie elaborated, "Simple. We arrange it so we both have one day off of work a week, say a Wednesday to break the week up. Then we have a six week rota; one week you take Tommy out and I'll have Bert and Ernie; you take Bert and I have Tommy and Ernie, then you take Ernie and I have Bert and Tommy. After that we work it the other way round so I take Tommy and you take Bert and Ernie, then I take Bert and you have Tommy and Ernie; I'll have Ernie and you take Tommy and Bert. Et voila, everyone gets to spend time with everyone," he concluded, flashing her one of his trademark grins.

"Well?" Alfie broke the silence, having received no response. Kat had never been short of an opinion in the past.

"I have to admit, that is one of the better ideas you've had."

"Don't sound so surprised," he teased.

Checking out of the window once again for any sign of their nemesis behaving suspiciously, and, finding nothing, the penny seemed to drop for Kat. What was she doing, thinking more about Ronnie than Alfie when he'd given her another chance after everything she'd said and done to him? She was still a concern obviously, but one that they needed to face together. "Come here," she told him, in much the same way as she had after they'd received the happy news that they were expecting twins.

* * *

The two had been lying in each other's arms for approximately twenty minutes when the sound of Alfie's ringing mobile filtered through from the kitchen.

"What are you like, leaving your mobile lying about?" Kat remarked. "The whole point of a mobile is that you can take it with you," she smirked.

Chuckling gently at his wife's smart comment, Alfie got to his feet and headed in the direction of the offending object. Leaving the room, he looked back and flashed her a smile, before continuing on his way.

* * *

Reaching the kitchen, Alfie quickly took hold of his mobile and recognised that the caller as Joanne, returning his call. "Alfie Moon speaking," he said, answering the phone.

"Hello Alfie, it's Joanne here. How are you today?"

Clearly he'd had better days, or he wouldn't have been phoning her. With as little concern for politeness as he had ever had, Alfie voiced this. "Can we cut the pleasantries, Kat's pregnant and our son's kidnapper is moving in next door?"

There was a pause, followed by silence on Alfie's end of the line as Joanne said her piece.

"You what?! You ask us if we want any conditions putting on her release, we say we don't want her coming anywhere near us or Tommy; you ignore that fact and then you won't do anything when she decides to go one further and buy the house two doors up from us! Having her across the street was bad enough!" he despaired.

Joanne swallowed, buying herself the time to run through her response to this. Maintaining her professionalism, she then spoke up again. "Alfie, I understand that this is a shock for you and Mrs Moon, but Ms Mitchell has served her time. The board are of the opinion that she doesn't pose a threat."

"No threat! Get them to live next door but one to their child's kidnapper then!" Alfie began to vent. "No threat." he repeated out of sheer disbelief.

"It was the finding of the psychiatrists who were assigned to Ms Mitchell upon her imprisonment that she acted out of severe post-traumatic stress disorder, and as such, she is unlikely to reoffend. Obviously she will be severely dealt with if she does attempt to snatch another child."

The threat of punishment was far from comforting. She'd likely call up Jack and play along just long enough to have him find her an escape route from the implied sanctions.

"She knew what she was doing. Kat and I broke up not long after she snatched Tommy. She found out and started going on and on about how it couldn't be over. It didn't make a lot of sense at the time but it all slotted into place when we found out what she'd done. She was only trying to ease her own sense of guilt over the charade that she was carrying on with. She wouldn't have taken four months to confess if she wasn't as calculated as they come."

Alfie wasn't entirely sure what it was that had been said next, only that it wasn't what he wanted to hear, or even remotely encouraging. He'd have zoned back in in a second had Joanne given him anything promising to be holding onto. "You can tell Kat for me then; I can't break her heart like that," he hit back firmly.

While Alfie headed back in the direction of the lounge, Joanne gave him some speech about how he was being overly dramatic. He disagreed; if anyone understood Kat, it was him. The legal system seemed to Alfie to be all for complex personalities, advocating Ronnie's childsnatching ways solely because she'd encountered some tough times in her past. Why then did it fail to care for Kat? When someone had been deprived of their child at the hands of their own parents, was it not natural that the prospect of having their son's kidnapper as an almost immediate neighbour would break their heart?

"Kat," he called out, re-entering the room. "Joanne wants a word with you," Alfie informed her, doing his best to give nothing away. He could sense however that her mind was starting to work overtime, no doubt aware that it couldn't be the news they wanted on the basis that he wasn't coming in smiling from ear to ear at their triumph. At this development, he quickly departed from his original plan, putting the phone onto speaker. It was fair to say that Kat would probably drop the said phone when she learned of the extent of the law's concern for them, or lack of as it turned out. They were hard up enough as it was and could do without needing to replace the phone.

Words were spoken and Kat's expression fell still further. He'd expressed his concern regarding Kat getting her heart broken, and now it was breaking his. He couldn't bear to see her frightened or scared and would do anything in his power to ensure that she was happy. It just so happened that it was outside of his control on this occasion.

"Right," she eventually piped up again, given the strength to fight back by Alfie, who had sat back down and was now holding her comfortingly. "So she's the one that's done wrong and yet we're the ones that have to move. That's brilliant, just brilliant." The situation was far from ideal, but Alfie could still see the Kat that he had fallen in love with shining through.

"Mrs Moon, no one's suggesting that you have to move away."

"No?!" Kat began sarcastically, disgusted by the law's failure to protect victims. It wasn't for the first time either. Why had it taken four months to get Little Mo free? "What do you expect me to do then, take her round a cup of sugar?!"

Alfie was quick to interject, determined to prevent his wife from continuing her tirade and landing herself in trouble for the abuse of a police officer. With the way any crime he'd been connected to seemed to have been exaggerated, they'd probably decide that it constituted assault. "We would move away Joanne; anything's better than living with Ronnie two doors away at the moment. The problem we've got is we can't actually afford to move; we don't rob factories like that family. We're the wronged parties here, why should we be made to suffer because of that?"

The remainder of the phone call continued in the encouraging manner that it had started; that was not at all. There was something about not casting aspersions, and how witness protection was just that, not designed to relocate the victims of crime for the easement of their own albeit entirely rational fears. Unfortunately for Alfie, he soon had another reason to be concerned as Kat rose from the couch with a purpose. She was never going to take this lying down, but he had hoped, however unrealistic as it might have been, that she would do it in a way that would be less exerting for herself. He wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to know what it was that she was planning, considering that his chances of stopping her were about equal to his chances of living to see the day that he would become a great-grandparent.

"What are you doing?" he voiced, worried both for her safety and for that of their unborn children. Alfie had to admit that he had found Ronnie chilling to say the least back when she'd warned him off of Roxy. She was one of those who'd emerged from a prison spell as a 'hard-nut' for want of a better phrase; now that he'd all but humiliated Roxy by leaving it until the very last minute to choose Kat over her, plus happened to be having the baby with Kat that Roxy wanted, he really wouldn't put it past her to hurt Kat or any one of their children just to get to him. That included Tommy, who despite having stolen him from them; he didn't think she'd ever shown a semblance of care for.

"Going to mark her card," Kat revealed, still agitated. "We can't live like this. We need to be able to tell the kids that we did something to keep them safe when they find out who she is and what she did."

"You're going round there?"

"What else do you suggest, call Janine up and ask her if she'd mind doing Ronnie in as well?" Once again, as was so typical of Kat in times of crisis, she'd defaulted to taking a sarcastic tone with anyone who distracted her from the mission in hand, even if they happened to be the people that she loved most in the world. "Stacey!"

"You're taking Stacey round there as well?" Kat had never been one to shy away from a confrontation, but Alfie hadn't envisaged her going to quite those lengths.

Kat nodded the affirmative. "She's not going anywhere. If I threaten Ronnie and keep Stacey hidden, she's got one over me when she realises she's here," she reasoned.

* * *

Proving that she was far from the reluctant teenager that Alfie remembered, Stacey had appeared ready to head out within all of two minutes. The three then headed out to face the Mitchells, with Alfie hanging back and slouching against the gatepost of Number 23. Kat and Stacey wandered in the direction of Janine's old place, finding their rivals standing on their doorstep. With no camera in sight, it was as if they had planned it this way; loiter outside just long enough to intimidate Kat and Alfie as further revenge for their treatment of Roxy. Kat couldn't see Roxy particularly wanting to move into a house in which someone had been murdered; the fact that they were only two doors away had likely swung the decision.

"Right, I'm guessing you've heard our happy news from Phil or Sharon so I'm here to tell you that if you go near any of us, if you even look at Tommy or these twins, she'll stave your head in like she did your old man's," came the inevitable threat. Kat wasn't finished. "You'll stop little sis here from turning her into the old bill because if they find out what she did, I'll see to it that everyone knows what your dad did to you." It was cruel, but necessary. She could console herself with the fact that she'd never made anyone believe that they were burying their own child.

"You think you can come round here making threats like that?!"

It was at times like this that Kat began to wonder whether Ronnie was related to Phil at all. "Looks like I just did." He was as smart as they came and Ronnie ought to have known that she possessed nothing with which to fight back. It wasn't as if she was stupid enough to stroll up to Ronnie with a murderer for company if there was so much as a weak link in the plan, never mind a hole.

"You'll regret this. You can't tell anyone that my dad…" Ronnie soon stopped dead.

"Really? What are you going to do about it? Tell them that my Uncle raped me? You can't use that to hurt me because the whole of Walford already knows."

She was speechless. The ice queen had been rendered a mute by the very woman she'd lorded it over while playing landlord, trying to evict them with no authority. The saying had it that what went around came around; never had Kat seen more truth in it than at that moment.

"We both know that you don't want the truth coming out. You just showed me that you don't. You're a long way from making peace with it yourself; you couldn't even use the word rape. Believe me there's a big difference between coming to terms with it yourself and being able to hold your head up high when everyone knows what happened to you."

Alfie watched on in admiration as his wife put Ronnie in her place. As the scene unfolded, it suddenly dawned on him that Kat could just have easily have become twisted as a result of her abuse. Both women had started from essentially the same point; violated by a relative they trusted in the worst possible way, and denied of the chance to be a mother to their respective daughters. Showing true strength of character, Kat had eventually gone forward and sorted her life out, while Ronnie had taken the other turn and allowed herself to be consumed by it. Even now, it seemed that Ronnie refused to trust anyone completely, even Roxy. That didn't mean that it had been easy for Kat; it would never be with a past like that, but Kat had kept her guard up while allowing him to earn her trust, bit by bit until she didn't need the guard any longer. It didn't mean that Kat's journey had seen her be a shining star all the way, because it hadn't. There'd been times when she'd fallen back into the clutches of her past, but infidelity was preferable to her becoming an out and out psychopath and control freak, something that Kat had learned from and Ronnie was still failing to do. It was clear that Roxy was filling the void created when Ronnie had been denied of the chance to raise Danielle and James. Tommy was Kat's equivalent for the hole left by Zoe, yet she wasn't overbearing because of it. She didn't keep his parenting for herself, she simply appreciated every bathtime, every meal she prepared for him and each night she happened to tuck him in all the more for it. She was fully aware that Tommy preferred for Alfie to put him to bed, as he told better stories; the difference between Kat and Ronnie was, Kat had no issue with this, admitting that for a child of three, the stories that Alfie's imagination conjured up by far topped any of her attempts at the same. Ronnie on the hand would likely sulk, just as she had done quite publically when Roxy failed to answer her phone, had looked in the direction of a man or hadn't left her to pick up Amy from school.

He was still smiling as Kat eventually backed away from their mutual demon, closely followed by Stacey. Holding his arm out, Alfie waited for Kat to walk into it as Stacey wandered on ahead and into the house.

"You were amazing," Alfie told Kat as she fell gratefully into his protective embrace. "You and me against the world," he reminded her once more as they strolled inside, feeling that at least part of a weight had been lifted from their shoulders.


End file.
